The Iron Horse: Everything's Better with Robots!
by Thinker
Summary: A broken mechanical pony is found in Applejack's orchard. Intrigued, Twilight decides to fix it, even against Princess Celestia's wishes. Without knowing who built it and why, she intends to see just how advanced it really is and decides to find out if she can teach a cold, calculating machine to bond with others and make friends.
1. Discovery

"_My story's a lot like yours, only more interesting because it involves robots."_

_-Bender, _Futurama

* * *

**The Iron Horse (Everything's Better With Robots)**

**Part 1**

**Discovery**

* * *

From the darkened forest, down deserted roads, gleaming under a bright sun, steadily it came. The metallic sound of its hooves hitting the stones in the dirt path was accompanied by the electric _whirr _of gears and a steady electric hum. It moved onward to its destination with precision, completely undistracted by sights or sounds. Birds and wild animals fled as soon as they saw this alien creature. It slowed only for a moment as it came to a bend in the road and saw a trail leading off the dirt road and through a gathering of trees. It was not a natural forest, however; these were all apple trees. An orchard.

"_Recalculating,"_ it uttered to itself in an electric voice. "_Faster route determined. Proceeding to Ponyville."_

The thing left the sunny road and entered the orchard, its gray metallic exterior almost blending in amid the thick shadows.

Soon it would arrive.

* * *

It wouldn't have been out of the ordinary for something strange to happen. Paradoxically, that was just how things were - or at least how they had _become_ \- in Ponyville. Rampaging dragons, parasprites, trickster spirits, etc., had left the small community with a growing resistance to surprise. Still, the new castle overlooking the area, not to mention their beloved princess and her friends, was something special indeed. Their own local monarch tasked with spreading friendship across the whole of Equestria. It was undeniably exciting, that was for certain. Welcome to Ponyville: the boring little hamlet where, on a regular basis, _amazing_ things happen.

Still, some things never seemed to change…

"Today is the day, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom declared. "We're gonna keep workin' until we get our cutie marks in…" she paused for dramatic effect "...sculpture!"

"I've got a good feeling about this one!" Sweetie Belle chirped enthusiastically. "And I brought all the stuff we need for it!"

Scootaloo inspected each stack of materials carefully. "Wood, clay… wait, what's with the rolled up wire stuff and the old copies of the _Foal Free Press?"_

"That's chicken wire!"

Scootaloo was silent, narrowing her eyes as if anticipating some unwelcome, overused joke.

"It's for paper mache!" Sweetie Belle explained.

"Oh! Oh, then yeah, great!"

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow at that last bit. "Paper? We couldn't get one of those big ol' rocks you always see artistic types workin' with?"

Sweetie Belle sighed. "I asked the stallion at the quarry. He said a block of granite or marble was going to cost more than three fillies could afford on our allowances."

"Well, that's fine anyway," Scootaloo added. "I think some of these old papers still have our 'Gabby Gums' columns in it. Probably good to make good use of those even if we don't get a cutie mark."

The three young friends were in their clubhouse and they were actually further behind schedule than they'd expected. It was getting late in the afternoon to just begin their latest attempt at discovering their special talents and none of them glanced out the window to notice the storm clouds being placed overhead by the pegasus weather team. A thunderstorm had been scheduled for that day and the weather team had already issued a warning for everypony to stay indoors. Even with such control over weather, it was easy for wind and lightning to get a little out of hoof.

But the three were too engrossed in their little quest and their attempts to make some sort of statue or bust left them so busy that they didn't even notice as the rain began to fall and the sun began to set as the hours slipped by and the darkness set in.

"Hey! Help me out, my hoof is stuck in this here clay!"

"It ish?" Scootaloo turned as she held the hammer in her mouth, momentarily stopping her chiseling on the block of wood to turn to Apple Bloom. In doing so, she dropped the hammer on one hoof. Shouting in momentary surprise and pain, she fell backwards, knocking the unfinished sculpture over, chipping a chunk of the wood off entirely.

"Scootaloo, that's the first time I've ever seen a pony knock their _own_ block off," Sweetie Belle said dryly.

"Oh ha ha," Scootaloo grumbled. Then she brightened, seeing her sculpture. "Hey, that's actually pretty good, Sweetie Belle!"

Sweetie Belle looked at her unfinished sculpture. "You think?" she asked hopefully. It was slowly taking on the shape of a unicorn's head, although the mane was only just being formed around the wire structure.

"Hey, yeah!" Apple Bloom agreed. "Is that supposed to be your sister?"

"Uh huh! I thought Rarity might like it! I mean, I need to finish and maybe paint it, but… wait, what's that sound?"

They froze and only now heard the hard rain splattering on the clubhouse window and loudly onto the rooftop. And then they looked up and saw a distinct drop of water forming in the roughly-constructed ceiling. And then that drop fell right onto Sweetie's paper mache sculpture.

"Oh no, I better move that before-"

The wooden ceiling suddenly gave and a large cascade of water came down, practically melting the sculpture before her eyes.

"It's melting, it's melting!" Sweetie cried. "Oh, what a world, what a world!"

"Ah dang it, I can't believe we forgot about the rainstorm today!" Apple Bloom shouted, stamping her hoof in frustration.

"It's not just a rainstorm," Scootaloo said. "Earlier, I heard Rainbow Dash saying it's gonna be-"

_KABOOM_

"-a th-thunderstorm," she finished. "And it looks like a bad one."

"We better get back to my house before it gets worse! Who knows if this old clubhouse can take any more punishment! Not to mention Applejack will be sore if we're out any later!"

The three of them abandoned their sculptures and ran out into the storm. The wind and rain were already strong and growing stronger and the sky began to flash and light up as lightning began to strike all across ponyville. The booming, rumbling thunder rolled over the orchard as they ran, but they counted themselves lucky that the lightning didn't seem close.

"Just a little more!" Apple Bloom called, grimacing as the rain pelted her face.

And then with a deafening, explosive bang, a bolt of lightning came down no more than a hundred meters away, turning the darkened land momentarily bright as midday. The sound may as well have been the sky itself shattering and they all screamed, clutching each other as their ears rang.

"That was too close!" Scootaloo yelled.

"Wait a minute, did it hit one of the trees?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I see smoke!"

"And I think I smell somethin' burnin' too," Apple Bloom said. They peered through the nearby trees but then they heard a strange sound as something came closer.

In a cloud of smoke, still searing hot from being struck by lightning, a strange thing emerged. It was the same size and shape as a pony, only…

"Is that thing made out of metal?" Scootaloo asked in disbelief.

"It can't be," Apple Bloom said, though the thing really was covered head to hoof with metal plates. In fact, even the hoofs seemed to be covered in metal.

"Maybe it's one of the Royal Guard? Is that why it's wearing all that armor?" Sweetie Belle's suggestion made sense, but it didn't look like any armor any of them had ever seen. And that's when they saw it staring at them and they got a good look at its eyes.

They were glowing. Well, actually, they were flickering erratically, but the point was their appearance: bright purple with no pupils. They resembled a pair of flashlights more than any normal pair of eyes. The girls recoiled with fear at the sight as the stranger approached them, but then Apple Bloom's sense of responsibility took over.

"Uh, excuse me, Miss or Mister," she said, coming closer. "Are you okay? Did you get struck by lightning? Do you need any help?"

The thing's walking was shakier now and they could all hear the loud clanking as it took each wobbly step. But it managed to keep walking as it made some kind of weird, jittering reply: "_T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-"_

"What's that? Can you speak up?" The pony or whatever it was in the armor had a strange, metallic voice (and it somehow didn't quite sound like somepony speaking inside a suit armor) and there was a bizarre distortion to it.

"_T-T-T-T-TWI-TWI-TWI-LIIIIII,"_ it stopped and then, its legs giving out as it took a few final steps, it made one more attempt at speech. "_TWI-TWIIIIIIILIIIIIIIIIGHHHT S-S-SPAAARKLE-KLE-KLE-KKKKzzzt!"_

The thing finally gave a distorted wheeze as it collapsed loudly in a smoldering heap, its purple eyes going totally dark.

"Oh my gosh!" Apple Bloom cried.

"W-w-what do you think it is?" Sweetie Belle asked fearfully.

"I don't know, but we can't worry about it now! We gotta get Applejack and get this pony to a hospital! I think it's hurt!"

* * *

Twilight moved briskly up the hallway in Ponyville General Hospital that night. She'd received a message sent over from Applejack via a nurse asking her to come as soon as possible. Luckily, Applejack had mentioned that neither she nor her family nor any of their friends were hurt, but she had still said there was something important she needed to see.

The rain outside had slowed to a light drizzle, so as she moved down the hallway, she shook the excess rainwater off her mane. She rounded a corner and at the end of the hallway, standing just before the doors of the operating room, she spotted Applejack and a doctor.

"Twilight!" Applejack called.

"Sh!" the doctor hissed. "Some of the patients in the nearby wings are probably sleeping."

"Ah, right, sorry," she apologized.

Twilight walked to them, offering a nervous smile.

"Um, good evening Applejack, doctor," she said. "Your note seemed urgent, so I came as quickly as I could. What happened, is everything all right?"

Applejack and the doctor exchanged glances.

"Well," the doctor began, "I can assure you that nopony is injured, but this is a special case. I have _never _seen anything like this."

Twilight relaxed. A late night emergency call to the hospital was never good news, as far as she knew, and though she couldn't imagine what might have happened to one of her friends, it now seemed that it was a false alarm. And yet…

"Wait, I remember you," she said to the doctor, smiling in recognition. "You treated my friend Rainbow Dash when she hurt her wing!"

"Yes, and then she broke into my hospital and tried to steal a book," he said, smirking slightly.

"Oh, heh heh, right."

"Water under the bridge, Miss Twilight. And by the way, it's Dr. Horse. Gregory Horse, MD."

Twilight actually loved that a lot of ponies in Ponyville continued to call her simply "Twilight" or "Miss Twilight" or at the most "Princess Twilight." The doctor was no exception.

"Uh, gettin' to the point..." Applejack hinted.

"Oh, yes, of course. What happened?" Twilight asked.

"Well," Applejack began, "it seems Apple Bloom and her Crusader friends were out a bit later than they expected. They got caught in the storm and made a run to get back to the house when they came across this pony dressed in armor."

"Armor?" Twilight echoed. "Like, maybe one of the Royal Guard?"

"That's what she figured. But she said it'd been struck by lightning!"

Twilight turned to the doctor in shock. "But you said nopony was in-"

"Just keep listening, you'll understand," the doctor said, cutting her off.

"Apple Bloom got Big Mac and me and we decided to haul it over to the hospital. And you wouldn't believe this, but… it took _both of us_ to load it into the cart."

Now that really _was_ something. Even with armor on, a single pony wouldn't have been too hard for a strong mare like Applejack to lift. And Big Macintosh was so strong that he could probably have lifted 10 ponies if he had to!

"We had no idea who was in that armor, Twi, so we just brought it on over to the hospital and then-"

"-And then my team took over," Dr. Horse finished. "And Miss Applejack wasn't lying. It took several team members to get it onto the operating table. We weren't able to tell if there was a pulse or if it was breathing or anything like that, so we tried to remove the armor. And it wasn't easy. It seemed to actually be bolted or even welded around the body. It seemed impossible to even pry off a single plate, but we finally got the side chestplate off after nearly half an hour of trying frantically. And then we found out something: it's _not_ armor. There was no pony inside at all."

Twilight blinked and shook her head. "How can that be?" she asked. Then she started to try working it out, going into full-on "studious mode." "Unless the armor was enchanted, perhaps? But that shouldn't have affected the weight. Could it have had a gravitational distortion spell added, or perhaps an ethereal weight variance? Still, how could it have been empty, there should have been a concentrated magical field inside!"

"I didn't say it was empty," the doctor said, and with that, he beckoned them both to enter the operating room. "I just said there was no _pony_ inside. But instead, we found all _this."_

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Wow," she breathed.

The thing on the operating table was covered in dull gray metal. Laying on its side, it did look just like a sleeping, unconscious pony, but only at first glance. The mane and tail were clearly artificial, each made of a series of conical, flexible white polymer tubes. The hooves weren't covered in brass - they _were_ brass! Fine-toothed gears protruded from the back of each of the legs and the eyes appeared to be covered in glass, but were now darkened and unseeing. But most telling of all was that, with the chest plate removed, Twilight could now see the thing's mechanical innards.

"It's a machine!" she gasped.

"Indeed. I don't know how to explain it, but Miss Applejack's sister apparently encountered some sort of mechanical pony. This must be-"

"An automaton!" Twilight cried excitedly. "I've only ever seen one in a museum! And this one… wow! It's got, let's see, clockwork here," she said, peering inside the thing, "and vacuum tubes here, and… oh oh oh, is that a magical step-up transformer attached to a chemical battery? And there are other things I can't quite see. We'd have to remove more of the exterior. This is unbelievable! It's too bad it was damaged by the lightning; some of the parts look burnt. Maybe even irreparably."

Applejack stepped forward. "So, this contraption is just some kinda model or mannequin?"

"No, more than that! It can move and do simple tasks! Automatons, or 'Simulacra' as the pony-shaped versions are sometimes called, were all the rage about a hundred years ago! Of course they were expensive and couldn't do much. I totally see why Apple Bloom thought that it might have been a real pony. I wonder how it got in your orchard? Someone must have dumped it there."

Applejack shook her head. "No, Twilight, I saw the hoofprints it made myself and Apple Bloom swears she saw it move toward her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said the same thing. This here Otto-whatever got into my orchard by walkin' there."

Twilight froze. "No, no, that can't be right. They were built to move and sometimes dance and things like that, but they had preset motions. Without an operator nearby, it could never navigate through your apple orchard. Not independently."

"Well it can and it did!" Applejack insisted. "And there's one more thing you gotta know, Twi, and this is the reason I had 'em send for ya: Apple Bloom and the other girls swear this thing _talked."_

If Twilight had been merely impressed before, she was now completely astounded. She'd studied these machines before in her history and seen deactivated old models in museums. Admittedly, they had never looked as sophisticated or modern as this one, but in all her studies, she'd never read any account of an automaton that could speak. A walking, talking automaton? That wasn't normal, that was the kind of thing you read in fiction or saw in films.

"Wait," Twilight said, letting her train of thought catch up to the present. "What did it say?"

Applejack hesitated. "Your name, Twilight," she finally replied. "Apple Bloom swears the last thing it said before it keeled over was your name."

Twilight had a mixture of utter fascination and cold apprehension on her face. Fidgeting with her wings she trotted back and forth in the operating room, muttering to herself as she tried to work out what to do next. "An automaton… talking, talking like a normal pony… just moving independently… functional remote control… magical enchantment? No, no, too sophisticated… New technological advances? It can't be, but the evidence… this is… oh my gosh, this can't be… but it is! It is!... Oh gosh, what do I do now?..."

Dr. Horse leaned over to Applejack. "Is this, um… normal behavior?"

"For her it is," she replied with a smirk.

"I just mention it because we do have a very restful mental health wing filled with ponies who mutter to themsel-"

"I've got it!" Twilight exclaimed suddenly. "Doctor? Do you think you can get some volunteers to help Applejack and me bring this automaton back to my castle?"

"I suppose so. It doesn't seem we have any other injuries from the storm tonight. Guess some ponies decided to actually _listen_ to the weather team for once," he grumbled. "It's a quiet night, so perhaps the orderlies could use a little exercise."

Applejack eyed Twilight carefully. "Uh, why exactly are we haulin' this thing back to the castle in the middle of the night, Sugarcube?"

Twilight now flashed a look of determination. "We just stumbled across one of the most amazing scientific discoveries in decades and it _knows my name!_ It's broken, though, so if we want to find out why it was looking for me, there's only one thing to do: I'm going to FIX IT!"

She turned to run back down the hall, looking over her shoulder as she went. "I'll go get a room ready at the castle. I'll meet you back here in just a few minutes!"

"If you say so," Applejack said, watching her go. She turned to the doctor. "Uh, before we get this goin', um… about that problem I was talkin' to ya about?"

Doctor Horse nodded. "Yes, I'll set up an appointment for tomorrow, but I doubt it'll be any different from what I always say," he replied.

"Right, right," she said, looking disappointed. "Thanks, Doc."

* * *

The next day, Twilight had gathered her friends in a small room of the castle. The mechanical pony was laid on a table in much the same state it had been found earlier. Now, however, several more plates had been removed, revealing the bizarre metallic skeletal framework inside. The pistons in its legs and the tubing leading up through the neck were now visible, along with a host of other devices that filled the body, all connected with a twisting network of wires. A bright overhead light was being shined on it and stacks of books and other devices were scattered all around it.

"Well, everypony, here it is!" Twilight exclaimed. "This could be one of the most amazing advances in science since the invention of the train!"

They all looked to Twilight, then to the machine, and then back to her.

"Uh, no offense, Twilight," Rainbow Dash said, "but what exactly is so special about a pony made of metal?"

"I agree," Rarity said. "Looking at it, especially with its inner workings showing like that, it is rather, well, _garish,_ don't you think?"

Twilight made a face. "I know it looks strange, but this could be something amazing! Think of what you could do with something like this!"

Pinkie Pie bounded over to Twilight excitedly. "Exactly!" she said. "I had a mechanical pony toy like this once! You wound it up with a key and it went all _WHRRRRR _and it moved around and spun on wheels and the horn lit up and everything! It was really cool until my dad sat on it and then it didn't work so well."

"Uh, Pinkie-"

"But a toy this big is _way_ too big for anypony's dad to sit on it! I bet this thing could stand up to TEN dad butts!"

Twilight sighed, but smiled. "Well, it's not a toy, Pinkie, but you are right: this machine should be really sturdy. It could probably stand up to all sorts of punishment. Uh, dad butts included!"

"Woohoo!"

"Well, not for nothin', Twilight," Applejack said, "but why would you need it to take _any _punishment?"

"Think of it like this," Twilight began, trying to think of a good example. "Um… oh, I know! Fluttershy?"

"Hm? Sorry, what?" she asked. She had been staring at the automaton uneasily, not really following the conversation until Twilight got her attention.

"Imagine one of your animals got into a dangerous situation. Like, say, if Angel fell in a hole or there was an earthquake or storm and he got trapped inside a collapsing building."

"Oh my goodness!" she cried, practically tearing up at the thought. "That'd be awful!"

"Exactly. Now imagine-"

"He would be so scared! And maybe hurt! And hungry! And I would do my best to save him, but what if it was too dark in the hole? Or the building was on fire?!"

"Um, Fluttershy-"

"Or what if he broke his poor little bunny leg?! Oh no, no, no!" she shouted hysterically.

"FLUTTERSHY," Twilight said, holding her face in her hooves, making her face her. "Yes, that would be terrible, but you wouldn't have to worry. And do you know why?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, no. Why?"

"Because _this_ could save him!" she said, gesturing toward the automaton. "A mechanical pony, an automaton as strong as a whole _team_ of the toughest stallions, totally immune to pain and fear, has come to rescue Angel! Your pet will be safe and nopony has to go into a dangerous situation and get hurt in the process!"

"Wow! Amazing!" Fluttershy exclaimed in delight. "Oh, Twilight, that's such a great idea! Do you really think it could do something like that?"

"I do," Twilight said. She turned to look at all of her friends now. "I don't know who built this automaton, but if it can move independently like Applejack said it was doing, then we could be doing Equestria a huge favor by fixing it. Who knows, maybe the inventor of this machine is looking for it and will be grateful to us for fixing it!"

The others seemed to understand and one by one voiced their general agreement. Applejack broke through this optimism, however, by reminding them all of something.

"Now, this is all fine and good, Twi, but don't forget that this thing came around sayin' your name. It was _lookin'_ for ya. Ya don't think that's even a little bit suspicious? Maybe… I don't know, maybe we shouldn't try fixin' it. What if some evil pony sent it after ya?"

Twilight smiled and put her hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "I have thought about that. And that's why I brought you all here. It isn't going to hurt anypony now, not when it's still broken. But if we fix it, maybe we can find out together what it wanted with me. It might be dangerous, but maybe somepony sent it to get my help. And if that's the case, then maybe they need _all_ our help. We are a team after all, right?"

"Right!" they all shouted.

At that moment, the door opened and Spike entered, carrying another book and a blank scroll. "Here's that last book you asked for, Twilight. I got it from the public library. It's got some information on automatons from East Trottingham."

"Thanks, Spike! Okay, so on to business, everypony! I know this might take some time, but I need your help."

"I was starting to wonder," Rarity asked. "I must admit, though, I'm not very good with repair work."

"Yeah, if it's a barn or a busted fence, then I'm your pony," Applejack said, "but I don't know a thing about contraptions like this."

"Actually," Twilight said, blushing slightly, "I don't really know much about this type of machine either. I'm more familiar with potions and devices that work with magical energy. And this automaton works with a few devices like that, but the rest? I have no idea. Even if we don't know what these things are, however, all these books should help us figure out what the parts are. I've already had some pictures taken and I'm going to write to Princess Celestia asking if she can send an expert on technology to help us. But if we can identify the different parts first, that'll help whoever she sends!"

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash grumbled, "more _studying?"_

"Just enough to find pictures and stuff that matches," Twilight assured her. "You don't have to read the whole book. Just skim it."

"Eh, I guess I could do that. It would be pretty cool to try and get this bucket of bolts up and running."

Twilight levitated a book over to her. "This might be a good place to start, then. It's a book on antique automata that could _fly."_

"Whoa! They had those?!" Dash leaned forward excitedly.

"Yep. Not too far or fast, but they still had them! And I've got a few more. One on mechanical animals for Fluttershy, dancing clockwork displays for Rarity, musical ones for Pinkie, and even one on attempts to make automata that could do farm labor for Applejack!"

They all took their respective books eagerly, with the exception of Applejack, who took her book with a sarcastic "Yeah, swell," muttered under her breath.

While the others began their task of identifying the parts of the simulacrum, Twilight and Spike took to writing the letter.

"Ahem. 'Dear Princess Celestia,'" Twilight dictated as Spike wrote her words down. "'Something amazing has happened in Ponyville! My friends and I have discovered a broken automaton, just like the kind that were popular a hundred years ago. However, this one seems new, and supposedly it could move on its own. I'd like to fix it, but I need some expert help. Could you please send somepony who knows a lot about machines to help us? There must be somepony, perhaps in Canterlot, who knows something about this. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Sincerely yours, Twilight Sparkle.'"

"Okay, got it," Spike said. "Anything else?"

"Make sure to enclose the photographs we took, okay?" she said.

"No problem," Spike said, folding them into the scroll. "Here goes!" Using his magical fire breath, he sent the letter, watching it disappear into the ether as always.

"I can't wait to see who she recommends!" Twilight said eagerly, clapping her hooves together.

A few moments later, she got her reply as Spike belched forth a scroll with the royal seal on it. "Wow, she sent a reply already!" he said.

The other ponies stopped their reading as Spike unfurled the letter. "Okay… 'Dear Princess Twilight,'" he began, reading the reply. "'Automata were only a novelty. Somepony else wasted their time making it, so they will surely come looking for it. I don't think it's necessary for a Princess of Equestria to...' uh, whoa," Spike said, pausing.

"What? What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Um, she says, 'I don't think it's necessary for a Princess of Equestria to waste her time on such things as well. I recommend you leave it as it is or else have it scrapped so you may focus on your role as Princess of Friendship. Kindest regards, Princess Celestia.'"

They were all silent.

"Wow," Rainbow Dash said, breaking the silence. "She, uh, doesn't seem that interested, Twilight."

"Maybe she's right," Applejack said. "I mean, really, what does this have to do with Friendship anyway?"

"Not _everything_ I spend my time on has to be a royal duty," Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "But you're right, Rainbow Dash. Princess Celestia usually supports any research I do. I wonder why she seems so uninterested. It's not like her. Well, no matter. Let's try this again. Spike, can you take another letter?"

"Of course," he said, readying a second scroll.

"Then let's try this. 'Dear Princess Celestia. I know this isn't part of my royal duties, but this might actually be more important than I originally stated. The girls who found this mechanical pony all claim that it said my name before it broke down. I absolutely believe them when they say this. Whoever created this machine specifically sent it to find me. I don't want to leave this mystery unsolved. I would greatly appreciate your help in restoring it so we can get to the bottom of this. Your dear friend, Twilight Sparkle.'"

"Nice," Rainbow Dash said, nodding her head approvingly.

"That's sure to work!" Spike agreed, sending the letter.

A few minutes later, they got their reply. "'Dear Princess Twilight,'" Twilight said, reading this one aloud herself. "'I still have my doubts, as I personally lived through the heyday of automata and simulacra, and never once heard of such a thing as one that could talk or move on its own. Still, if that is true, then perhaps you are right. I believe I know of somebody who would be of great help. Allow me to contact him and I will let you know if I can arrange for him to assist you in Ponyville. Please be very careful, however. I fear that whoever sent this machine may seek to do you harm. I wish you and your friends the best of luck with your research and repairs. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.'"

"Oh my, that went much better!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "But, um, did anypony else catch that she said she knew of 'some**body**,' and not 'some**pony**?'"

Twilight considered it. "Maybe it's a typo?"

The next day, she would learn that it was _not_ a typo.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	2. The Future Soon

**The Iron Horse (Everything's Better With Robots)**

**Part 2**

"**The Future Soon"**

* * *

The very next afternoon, Twilight was at the train station waiting on the platform with Fluttershy and Rarity. The others were occupied elsewhere, but Fluttershy was curious as to what sort of creature was coming if they were indeed not a pony and Rarity was keen on meeting anyone of interest.

"Twilight, I beg your pardon, but could you refresh me again on this fellow?" Rarity asked. "What's his name again, Mr… Vanderbull?"

"That's right. Cornelius Vanderbull," Twilight said. "I really don't know that much about him personally, but professionally he's actually well known as one of the greatest engineers living today! He designs trains and actually owns two thirds of all the railroad companies in Equestria. He's pretty wealthy too. He commissioned the Grand Central Depot in Manehatten and donated the money for the new science wing at Canterlot University!"

"Oh my, he sounds like quite the celebrity! And Grand Central Depot is such a wonderful place in Manehatten. I simply marvel at the design!"

"I wonder why nopony knows what he looks like," Fluttershy said. "I mean, if he's so important, you'd think he would be in newspapers. Or magazines. Or maybe have a statue of himself at all the train stations."

Twilight considered this. "Maybe he's just shy," she offered slyly.

"Oh! You think?" she asked, already taking a shine to the as-of-yet unseen Mr. Vanderbull. However, they wouldn't have to wait long, as a train whistle was heard and they all saw the oncoming train as it rolled down the tracks from the hills and approached them.

"My, my, that's quite a train!" Rarity exclaimed.

Indeed it was. The image of a bull's head was emblazoned on the front of the engine, which itself was colored black with gold accents on the smokestack and wheels. The train was only a few cars long, but each car was a deep red with the same gold accents on the windows and rooftops in stark contrast to the usual pastel-colored cars they were used to. Also on each of the cars was the same word, boldly painted in official-looking capital letters: COMMODORE.

"I didn't realize Mr. Vanderbull was coming on his _private_ train," Twilight whispered. "He must have wanted to avoid any delays coming from Manehatten."

The train gave one last hiss of steam and a minor screech as the wheels came to a stop right in front of them. After a few moments, a figure emerged from the lead car, his silhouette momentarily enshrouded in steam, but then he stepped into full view.

"Oh my," Fluttershy breathed. "Mr. Vanderbull is… a minotaur?"

Indeed he was, though Fluttershy's response was out of surprise more than fear, as she'd already had her own encounter with a minotaur and was none the worse for it. Still, minotaurs weren't a common site in Equestria, so for such a well-known name to be attached to one, well, would have been a surprise to anyone.

"Ah, your majesty!" Mr. Vanderbull shouted jovially when he spotted Twilight. "It is an honor. So kind of you to come greet me personally!"

Vanderbull was quite tall and muscular, but he wore a sophisticated black suit and tie over a white shirt along with a pair of gray breeches which covered his legs almost down to his cloven hooves. His fur was the same dull blue Fluttershy remembered seeing on Iron Will, but this creature appeared to be a bit older and had a tuft of a gray beard and an equally gray mane running from his head down the back of his neck. He also wore a pair of gold spectacles on a chain which was, curiously, tied and connected neatly around one of his horns. There were age lines in his face and a rasp to his voice.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Vanderbull," Twilight said brightly. "We appreciate your help solving this mystery."

"It is my honor," he said, bowing graciously.

"He certainly seems far better versed in social graces than that Iron Will fellow, don't you think, Fluttershy?" Rarity whispered.

"Oh, yes, much," she said, seemingly relieved.

"And you brought your friends," Vanderbull went on. "Miss Fluttershy and Miss Rarity, correct?"

"Why, yes, that's right!" Rarity replied, pleased to be recognized. Fluttershy merely blushed and nodded.

"I hope you don't mind, but I brought a guest as well," he said to Twilight. "Now where is that girl? Gadget, come out here!" he called.

"C-coming, sir!" The speaker hurried out of the train, stumbling over her hooves and nearly falling onto the platform as she ran over to Vanderbull's side. "Sorry, Commodore, I was just separating my personal bags from my tools. Mr. Alfredo and the others are getting the supplies and… and… _eep!"_ This last outburst was upon seeing Twilight.

"Hello!" Twilight said, smiling in greeting. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you!"

The newcomer's eyes went wide. "P-p-p-Princess Twilight! Y-your majesty, I didn't know you were coming yourself!" She immediately bowed as low as she could, her head practically to the ground, her knees wobbling and her expression one of pure nerves. Twilight didn't think she'd ever seen a pony so flustered since meeting Fluttershy, and this pony gave her a run for her money. "My name… er, I am called G-gadget. Well, actually it's _Gadgette _F. Giroux, from Vanhoover. But uh… just… you know, Gadget's fine."

Mr. Vanderbull smiled at her patiently. "No need to be so distressed, my dear," he said reassuringly. "Princess Twilight doesn't seem like one to stand on ceremony."

This seemed to cheer up the young mare slightly as she raised her head. She was an earth pony with a cream-colored coat of fur. In contrast to her Vanderbull's impeccable, dignified clothes, her style had a haphazard, chaotic look to it. She had a long, dark brown mane that drooped unstylishly over her brown eyes, which were themselves hidden behind a pair of cheap red plastic glasses. She was also wearing a slightly oversized black coat with pockets that were bulging with something metallic (if the jangling sound she made when she walked was any indication, that is). She was small, too, and judging from her voice, probably a few years younger than Twilight and her friends at least, and Rarity guessed only a few years older than Sweetie Belle and the other Crusaders.

"Well, we should get going," Twilight said. "Do you both have your luggage?"

"My staff will be bringing my tools, actually," Vanderbull said. Almost on cue, a group of butlers and maids filed out of the train pulling carts loaded up with official-looking crates and boxes as well as more conventional suitcases. "Alfredo, we'll be taking these to the castle… er, with your permission, Princess?"

"Yes, by all means," Twilight agreed.

"Very good, sir, Your Highness," the head butler, Alfredo, uttered, motioning to the other servants to follow.

"We can send the others to our hotel to drop off the personal luggage and secure our rooms," Vanderbull said.

"Hotel? Don't be silly!" Twilight laughed. "You're helping me out so much, so I can put you both up in my house."

"In y-your…" Gadget stammered. "You mean your _castle?_ Staying there?!"

"Um… yes, unless you'd rather not?"

"C-castle? With royalty?! To fix a working automaton?!" Gadget looked on the verge of having a heart attack, but her eyes were practically sparkling with elation.

"I think she'll be fine with that," Vanderbull said chuckling. "Please, ladies, lead the way!"

* * *

The strange procession attracted some attention from the townsfolk in their short trip from the station to the castle. Twilight and Vanderbull walked side-by-side in front, followed by Gadget who was flanked on either side by Fluttershy and Rarity. Alfredo and the servants hauling the supplies took up the rear in single file.

"A wonderful town here to be sure," Vanderbull said. "It reminds me a bit of the hamlet I grew up in."

"Oh?" Twilight asked. "And where was that?"

"A little minotaur settlement outside of Equestria. It was lovely and peaceful but there was little there for me, and so I came here to seek my fortune. Despite the surplus of labor and magic, there was still plenty of work to be had by one with a strong back and _these_ handy little digits," he said, wiggling his fingers for emphasis, chuckling to himself. "I became fascinated with the early engine designs going around at the time and fell in with a ship-building company that specialized in steam boats. That was when I got my nickname, "Commodore," for the record. Anyway, I managed to improve upon some steam engine designs and developed a knack for them. Eventually I became one of the heads of the business and we went from boats to other small-time machines and finally to designing trains. We managed to overcome the odds and expenses and became the first train company to connect Manehatten and Canterlot with daily trips the year I became president. Ah, but that was almost 40 years ago. Listen to me, I must be boring you, Your Highness!"

"Not at all!" Twilight said. "You must have studied hard to get where you are!"

"There wasn't anything to study," Vanderbull replied with a shrug. "We were all making it up in those days. You learned by doing, not by reading. Not so for you, though, Gadget?" he asked, turning to look back at his quiet young assistant.

"Hm? O-oh, yes," she said, blushing slightly.

"I really must say, he seems to think quite highly of your skills," Rarity said. "But how did a young mare like you get to be the personal assistant of such an important pony- er, minotaur? You must be extremely talented to earn such a position."

"W-well, Miss Rarity," she began, "I come from a family of mechanics as it is. We fix small things like record players, clocks, steamboats, and a few of us even repair trains and printing presses and such. But ever since I saw my first train, I knew there was more to do. So I started reading every book I could on every kind of mechanical device out there. Clocks and trains, sure, but also magical spectrographs and light displays and all kinds of new and old machines. That includes automatons. I even built a miniature one out of watch parts, a battery, and some paperclips and bottlecaps. That's how I got my cutie mark."

She looked back at her flank, which showed a red gear with an electric bolt curving down the center.

"Wow!" Fluttershy said. "I don't think I could ever have made anything like that. Machines always seem strange to me. I'm better with animals."

"Oh, not me," Gadget said. "Animals and unfamiliar creatures give me problems. I nearly had a heart attack the first time I saw a griffon. Heck, the first time I even met Mr. Vanderbull, I actually got so scared that I ran away and jumped headfirst into a wooden crate to try and hide!" she laughed, earning an unseen eyeroll from Vanderbull and a concealed snicker from Twilight. "Anyway, I've been designing all kinds of new machines and one day Mr. Vanderbull spotted me at a convention for freelance inventors. He liked my work and hired me that day!"

"Fantastic! But there's something else that I'd like to ask… though in truth it might be a little insensitive," Rarity said, trying to ease into the topic.

"What is it?" Gadget asked warmly, feeling more comfortable with her two new companions (partly because she could avoid being directly scrutinized by the curious citizens of Ponyville by hiding between them).

"It's just that most of the pony engineers and watchmakers and such I know of are unicorns, since they can easily manipulate the small moving parts in machines. But you're an earth pony, darling. How ever do you manage to move all those gears and such into position using just your hooves and mouth?"

And for the first time, Gadget actually looked smug. "Oh, you'll see."

"And then," Vanderbull added, "you'll see why I knew I had to hire her."

* * *

"Well, here it is!" Twilight said, letting Vanderbull and Gadget into the room, Rarity and Fluttershy right behind them. She led them over to the table where the mechanical pony, stripped and slightly disassembled, was laid there for them all to see.

"My word," Vanderbull breathed. "Just look at this! These parts, the composition…"

Gadget only stood in awed silence… for about five seconds. Then she seemingly came to life. "Ohhhhhh OH OH OH OH!" she squealed, rushing forward like a crazed fangirl upon seeing her favorite pop diva. "These gears! They're made of gold! And the hull here must be titanium alloy." To their surprise (and partial disgust), she actually licked it. "It _is_ titanium! And… oh, Sweet Celestia, that rechargeable battery must be custom made!" She stuck her nose right next to one of the devices they'd removed and actually rubbed her cheek on it. "A magic-electrical conversion Luna's Ladder. Ohhh, they don't make them like this anymore."

"Quite right, Gadget!" Vanderbull agreed, his enthusiasm only slightly more restrained than hers. "And look at the wiring that runs throughout it. Whoever did this wasn't just an engineer; this was the work of an _artist!"_

"They certainly seem happy, darling," Rarity said to Twilight. "I hope our efforts yesterday didn't go to waste."

"Oh, that reminds me!" Twilight said. "If you'll look on the floor next to the table, we've managed to label some of the parts for you. My friends and I tried to do some research on classic Equestrian automata."

Vanderbull turned and smiled when he saw the labelled parts. "Yes, actually, this will make it much easier, Princess! Some of these are quite rare nowadays. I'll want to double-check them, of course-"

"_Augh!"_

The high-pitched screech that interrupted him came from Gadget, who was holding up one of the removed plates that had been take from the leg.

"Who removed this?! These rivets have been totally bent out of shape! They should have been cut evenly if you weren't going to remove them properly! This will take hours to remove them and replace them properly!" She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"She acts a little differently around machines," Fluttershy remarked timidly.

"Er, sorry, that was my fault," Twilight said, blushing slightly. "Spike and I were just trying to get the machine open. We didn't know we were making things more difficult."

Gadget seemed to remember herself even as Vanderbull folded his arms and looked down at her disapprovingly. "O-oh, no, I'm sorry, Princess Twilight," she said. "It was an honest mistake. It's really not such a big deal at all!"

"Well, if there's something I can do to make up for it, please let me know," Twilight said.

Gadget nodded, smiling with some relief that Twilight wasn't more offended.

"And now, my dear," Vanderbull said, "we should probably get to work. We have our supplies, so let's start by categorizing the rest and identifying the broken parts. Then perhaps we can replace or repair whatever is out of place."

"Yes, Commodore," Gadget said, raising a hoof in salute. Here she turned to Rarity. "You wanted to know how I can work on machinery so precisely as an earth pony, Miss Rarity?"

Rarity stepped forward. "Yes, I'd love to find out!" she said eagerly.

"Then allow me to show you. But just so you know, this is probably going to seem a little weird." At this point, she shook her jacket off her shoulders and pulled the sleeves from her forelegs, letting the bulky coat slide to the ground. And then they all saw what was clanking beneath it.

"Oh… my…" Fluttershy breathed.

Around Gadget's torso was a strange metallic harness. Thin metal bands wrapped tightly around her chest and there was a flat metallic square on her back. It looked a bit like an iron backpack or an unopened parachute and it had four open holes, two on each side. Gadget used her mouth to pull something from her discarded coat, although Vanderbull came over to assist her. Then they saw what they were.

It was a series of four mechanical, segmented limbs, each one with a skeletal metallic hand on the end, the fingertips padded in rubber. One by one, Gadget and Vanderbull attached them to the metallic pack she wore. When all four were in place, Gadget pressed a button and the subtle hum of electricity was heard. Then she winced as the harness seemed to tighten and a few metallic prongs bit into her flesh.

"Gadget!" Fluttershy cried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's fine," Gadget said, gritting her teeth for a moment. "It stings for a second, but it's necessary." And then she got a sudden wild gleam in her eyes. "But now you get to see my greatest invention, the thing that Mr. Vanderbull said was the most amazing piece of machinery he'd ever seen at the inventor's convention! As you know, earth ponies have above average strength and endurance as well as heightened sensitivity to natural energies. This device drains some of that magic from my body and redirects it, allowing me to control _these."_

And they all watched as the four limbs came to life and rose into the air, stretching and flexing impressively for all to see. "Behold: the Point-Dexter! A series of moveable limbs and opposable digits for the modern working earth pony! With these, I can manipulate my environment with the merest thought! _Mwa ha ha ha ha!"_

The raised mechanical limbs all began to clap, applauding their "master" as Gadget bowed and blew kisses to some imaginary audience. The others looked on nervously, half expecting a bolt of lightning to appear behind this young mare who had seemingly gone from a painfully shy girl to a cackling mad scientist in the span of only a few minutes.

"Gadget. You're scaring everypony again," Vanderbull hissed.

"Huh? O-oh," she said, returning to her normal, timid demeanor. Humorously, the front two hands came forward actually covered her face as she blushed while the back two hands twiddled their thumbs nervously. "Sorry, sir."

"It's okay," Fluttershy assured her. "Though, um, are you sure these things are safe?"

"Yes, of course they're safe. I can use them like they're a part of my body. Since I'm extending my own energy, they might as well be."

"That's really amazing!" Twilight said. "I didn't even know earth pony magic could be utilized that way!"

"Neither did I, at first," Vanderbull said. "In fact, I think this device is one of the first of its kind. Innovation like that is just what we need in my line of work. With this one device, Gadget has been able to create a great deal more with the freedom to use all four limbs together."

"It does leave me a little tired and sometimes I get headaches," Gadget said, "but it's worth it."

"Well, enough showing off," Vanderbull said, removing his coat and tie and rolling up his sleeves. "Let's see if we can safely remove the leg. There's something I'd like to look at in closer detail. Gadget, the #12 flathead screwdriver and a pair of needlenose pliers, if you please?"

"Yes sir, Commodore!"

As Twilight joined in, the three began their work on the mechanical pony. Fluttershy and Rarity both looked at each other as the trio got back to work. "Well, I think that's enough fun for me today," Rarity commented.

"Maybe we should just see ourselves out," Fluttershy replied. "They seem awfully busy now." So the two of them left while Twilight, Gadget, and Mr. Vanderbull began the long and arduous task of fixing the broken automaton. They slowly backed out of the room even as they heard metal on metal and the whirring of Gadget's strange invention as they began to break the mechanical pony down into its base parts.

* * *

That night, after a hard day and a lot of progress with the strange machine, Twilight and Spike walked Vanderbull to his room.

"I hope you find this room to your liking, Mr. Vanderbull," Twilight said, stopping in front of the door. Gadget had already retired to her room (after temporarily freaking out again that she was going to be spending the night in a princess's castle) and the rest of Vanderbull's staff had taken his train back to Manehatten once the supplies had been delivered.

"I did my best to get it fixed up for you," Spike said. "I tried to make it a little less 'girly' too. I saw that awesome train of yours from the castle balcony. I like your style, Mr. Vanderbull."

Vanderbull chuckled. "I save the pastel colors for the public lines. Pony folk seem to like it, but I prefer the earthier tones." He turned to Twilight. "Your little friend really is a good assistant. Seems we are both blessed with good help."

Twilight smiled as Spike flushed with pride, happy to be appreciated by their guest.

"And now, if you'll excuse me…"

Twilight watched as he opened the door, but then a thought occurred to her.

"Wait!" she cried suddenly, surprising both Vanderbull and Spike. "I… there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes, of course, Princess, how can I help you?"

"It's… well, you know Princess Celestia too, it seems," she began.

Vanderbull nodded. "Yes. We go back a long time. Without her, I'd never have become the minotaur I am today!"

"Yes, well, it's just that when we asked her for help at first with fixing the automaton, she didn't seem very, uh, receptive."

Vanderbull seemed to understand and nodded his head slowly. "Ah. _That."_

"It really was strange," Spike added. "Princess Celestia has always been so supportive of Twilight. I couldn't believe how she just blew the whole thing off at first!"

Vanderbull cleared his throat, for the first time in his visit looking uncomfortable. "Yes, I can explain, but, um… please, if we could keep this to ourselves? I'd hate for Her Majesty to think I was gossiping after she sent me this wonderful opportunity."

Twilight smiled. "You have my word. I know how you feel, in all honesty."

"Well, it's like this: Her Majesty… that is, Princess Celestia is… _old."_

Twilight cocked her head to the side. "Old?"

"I know that's no sort of secret, but ponies often take it for granted. Because of her eternally youthful looks and magnanimous demeanor, she is seen as never aging. But that is only her body. Her mind is the product of countless moons. Decades upon decades and centuries upon centuries. Now, I am no spring chicken myself," he said, stroking the tuft of his gray beard for emphasis, "and my wife and I are both old enough to be parents or even grandparents, if we had any children, that is."

"I didn't know you were married!" Twilight exclaimed. "You met another minotaur here in Equestria?"

He smiled. "No, actually. She's a pony, and the very love of my life."

"Oh!" she said, somewhat surprised. She decided not to ask if the lack of children was the result of choice or biology.

"I suppose it seems odd to you," Vanderbull mused, "a minotaur and a pony. About as likely as seeing a dragon attracted to a pony, am I right, Spike my boy?"

Spike managed to keep his cool despite Vanderbull's oblivious guffaws, though that was partly because of Twilight putting a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

"The point is, even in my age, I feel like it is difficult at times to understand change and progress. My expertise in technology is among the greatest in the land, yet I find so many others with newfangled ideas that fascinate and confuse me at the same time. That is partly why I have hired Gadget; I needed somepony with fresh ideas and no prejudice and the boldness to try something completely different. Still, as I age, I feel as though the modern world is encroaching on the world I once knew. Quite common for us older folks, really. Always complaining about newfangled things. You understand what I am saying?"

Twilight nodded. "I do. But what does that have to do with Celestia?"

Vanderbull laughed out loud. "Don't you see? It is difficult for _me_ to adjust to the times, and I am merely in my fifties. Celestia is so very much older. And before we had things like trains and the telegraph, change came slowly. But nowadays, technology is changing so rapidly, and this rather disturbs Her Majesty."

"Wow," Spike commented. "But then, how come she gets along with you so well?"

"Because I had the foresight to make the technology personal for her. Back when locomotives were first being developed, Her Highness referred to them as… what was it… ah, yes: 'Loud, smoke-belching monstrosities and will never replace the cart and chariot.'"

Twilight almost laughed out loud. "Celestia said _that?_ I can't believe that."

"Oh? Have you ever heard of her travelling by train?"

She froze. Of course Celestia had travelled all across the country… but no, she couldn't think of a single instance of her travelling by train in the years she'd known her. It was always by royal chariot, even when it would have been just as convenient and certainly more luxurious to take a private train.

"Nopony could get any funding or allowances for something the Princess herself dismissed," Vanderbull went on. "Nor would the public ride such a thing. So I came up with an idea.

"At great personal expense to me and my company, we bought up tracts of land and laid down railroad tracks between my hometown of Manehatten and Fillydelphia. I was in debt and about to lose it all, but I went ahead with a gambit. Her Highness was attending a function in Fillydelphia one day, so I arranged for the famous Manehatten Barndoor and Brumby Brothers' Circus to load their troupe, complete with animals, clowns, magicians, and acrobats, onto a train of custom-made cars and pay a surprise visit to the town. It was well-known that Celestia was quite a fan of the circus for some reason, and when the whole town of Fillydelphia went abuzz at the sight, Her Highness was right there to see them arrive and set up for a one-day only show."

"That's amazing!" Spike exclaimed.

"And I take it that worked?" Twilight asked knowingly.

"It did. She gave her approval and reversed her opinion regarding the technology, especially with regard to me… the 'Minotaur who Joined Two Cities' the newspapers called me." He puffed his chest out with pride. "With the Princess now backing trains, the railroad industry took off and investors were practically fighting each other to buy a share in _my_ company. And now the railroad joins every metropolis and one-horse town across Equestria. Though she still personally eschews trains, she warmed up to me and welcomed me into the Canterlot elite. And that's how we became, well, friends, I suppose."

Twilight smiled. "Thank you for the wonderful story, Mr. Vanderbull," Twilight said. "Well, good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah, just a moment please," Vanderbull said, stopping her. "I hate to keep you any further, but since we're discussing it, this might be a good time to mention that Celestia still mistrusts any new technology and I happen to know that she finds the very idea of a mechanical pony offensive. She is largely the reason the technology never went beyond a novelty a century ago. The thought of replacing a flesh-and-blood pony with a machine is something she fears more than almost anything else. Her Highness is a truly caring ruler and bless her heart, she cares greatly for the common pony. Thus, she is interested in us fixing this automaton _only_ to see if there's some threat against you or the kingdom. If there isn't, she might pull rank and demand we destroy the machine the instant we learn where it came from."

"Sh-she wouldn't do that!" Twilight gasped. "There's so much potential for something like this!"

"It's merely a possibility. I could be wrong, but in case I'm not," Vanderbull said, pushing his spectacles up his long snout to look at her intently, "you might want to come up with some reason to keep studying it once we get it working that will satisfy her. If it were anything else, I wouldn't bother, but technology is her one sore spot. I for one believe that technology like the machine downstairs will build this nation's future, and it is up to us to see that the future comes soon, or it may not come at all."

Twilight nodded. "I see. Well, I'd like to think you're wrong, but I'll think about it anyway. Good night, Mr. Vanderbull."

Vanderbull smiled, almost yawning as he entered his quarters. "Good night, Princess Twilight."

Spike and Twilight were quiet as they made their way down the hallway. It was a full minute and back in Twilight's bedroom before Spike broke the silence.

"So, what are you gonna do, Twilight?" he asked uneasily.

"I… I don't know yet, Spike," she replied. "But I'll come up with something." Her face grew stern and resolute at the thought of taking a stand against her mentor. "I hate to upset Princess Celestia, but no matter what, I'm not going to let the scientific discovery of the century slip out of my hooves."

* * *

**To be continued...**


	3. The Machine Awakes

**The Iron Horse (Everything's Better With Robots)**

**Part 3**

"**The Machine Awakes"**

* * *

Twilight got up after a restful night's sleep. Sure, what Vanderbull had told her had weighed on her mind, but she still felt refreshed. She woke up to find Spike had made her a cup of tea and, after thanking him, she made her way to the castle balcony. There she stood by the railing and looked out at Ponyville as it was bathed in the gentle golden glow of the dawn. She smiled as she took a breath of the cool, fresh morning air with a satisfied sigh as she sipped her tea.

"GOOD MORNING PRINCESS TWILIGHT!" Gadget said, bursting into full view suddenly.

"Gah!" Twilight screamed, nearly dropping her tea. "Gadget? What are you-"

"I thought you might want somepony to wash the windows so I decided to help as a way of saying thank you for letting me stay here and everything so I hope you like it!" she went on, talking just a little bit too loudly.

"I… wait, windows?"

"I did it with these!" Gadget was again wearing the harness with the mechanical arms (the "Point Dexter," wasn't it?) and Twilight could see that three of the hands had a cloth in them while the last one contained a spray bottle with window cleaner.

"That's nice, Gadget, really, but… wait, what are you standing on?!"

Twilight had finally noticed that Gadget was actually standing just _beyond_ the railing, and they were several stories up. The castle was, after all, the largest building in Ponyville. Was she floating? A levitation spell, perhaps?

"Oh, I brought out another one of my inventions to help me reach the windows. See?"

Twilight looked over the rail and saw that Gadget was standing on what looked like stilts, only these had a weird accordion-like mechanism to them.

"My extendable platform boots! I just move my hooves a little, see, and…" Gadget bent her knees slightly to shift her weight and all four of the stilts lowered her simultaneously. Just for good measure, she raised and lowered them several times, elevating herself and coming back down like a yo-yo.

"Ta-da! I should really sell this to window-cleaners. Although I need to make an anchoring mechanism. One stiff breeze and these could topple-"

Apparently this was tempting the Fates, because a strong breeze did come by and Gadget started to tip over, losing her balance. In her moment of fear and panic, even her mechanical limbs began to flail wildly, dropping her bottle and cloths.

"Whoa!" Twilight shouted, activating her magic in an instant. The purple glow of the magic enveloped the young mare, momentarily holding her and then pushing her back into place.

"Ahahaha… th-thanks, Princess. Guess I owe you even more now, huh?" She resumed her timid mannerisms, looking away from her in embarrassment. Her mechanical limbs, Twilight noticed, also worked in reflection of her mood, as she again hid her face behind one set of hands.

But Twilight just smiled. "It's okay. Besides, you and Mr. Vanderbull are helping _me _remember? Now, I'm glad you helped clean my windows, that was very sweet of you, but why don't you come back inside? Spike's making waffles! And since you're from Vanhoover, I'm sure you'll be glad to know we have maple syrup!"

Her eyes lit up. "I'll be right down!" she exclaimed as she descended back to the ground below.

* * *

Hours later, Twilight was on her own working on a single piece of the automaton. The strange bulbs on the thing, she'd found, could absorb magic and turn it into an electric charge. There was something familiar about that, though she couldn't quite place where she'd last seen it. She'd been practicing casting magic on it and then running it through a multimeter to see how much voltage, current, and resistance went through it.

She was happy to make a contribution, especially in light of how masterful Vanderbull and Gadget were. Her own specialty of magic-related technology was still proving useful. Several more pieces of machinery were on a table alongside some reference books. The headway she was making should speed up repairs if the other two were having as much success as she was.

"Excuse me, Princess Twilight?" Vanderbull said as he peeked through the door.

"Oh, good, Mr. Vanderbull!" she exclaimed. "I have the measurements from this… thing. You see, I can cast magic on it and it converts it into an electric charge. It loses a little bit in the process and I've seen some technology like this before, but _wow!_ This is really efficient! Who could have designed this?"

"I'm afraid I'm no closer to discovering that either," Vanderbull said. "However, Gadget and I have something to show you, and I think you will find it just as impressive as we do."

"Oh, great! Let me bring these other devices and my data and head back to the main room."

Shortly thereafter, she entered the room where the automaton had once been in one piece. Now it was completely disassembled. But on the center table were three distinct groups of machinery and they were all hooked up to a large chemical battery.

"Your Highness!" Gadget exclaimed. She was using her mechanical limbs to hoist a heavy-looking crate of gears and cogs and move it to the side of the room. "You are not going to _believe_ this!"

"Easy now, Gadget," Vanderbull said, calming her. "Please operate the switching mechanism and control the subsystems as we practiced. I will take the liberty of explaining our find to Her Highness."

Gadget saluted (oddly with her mechanical hand, not with her hoof, Twilight noted), and went to the other end of the table, pulling out a small console with a few switches on it. They were wired to a round, black triangular thing in the middle of the table. It, in turn, was connected to the three surrounding clusters of machinery.

"Princess," Vanderbull began, "you will recall that the machine you found was in the shape of an earth pony?"

"Yes, it was. I mean, it is." She hesitated, seeing Vanderbull smile slightly. "Isn't it?"

"Oh, indeed. But look at this here," he said pointing to the first group of machinery. "This is the automaton's leg, now opened so we can see its workings."

Twilight looked at it. She could see the gears and ball bearings that made up the knee, but the leg mostly just seemed to be a couple of poles inside a skeletal frame. However…

"Are those… _pistons_ on the side of the main leg?" she asked.

"Yes, very observant, Princess!" Vanderbull replied. "But watch this. Gadget, Stomp Test A, please."

"Yes, Commodore!" she said, pulling a switch. There was a hum of electricity and the leg twitched slightly.

"Now, this is a chunk of granite," Vanderbull said, holding up a sizable rock, grunting at its weight. "Quite strong, actually. Now, if I place it on the ground and hold the leg over it like so," he continued, narrating as he did so, "then watch what happens. Gadget?"

"Stomp Test A in 3… 2… 1…" She pulled a lever and the mechanical leg stomped downward onto the rock with its brass hoof.

The rock was totally unscathed.

"Well…" Twilight said. "That's… what was it supposed to do?"

"Nothing," Vanderbull said. "But now, we engage the subsystem. Gadget?"

His young assistant pressed a button and sparks of electricity flew from the black triangular device. A green light on the corner connected to the leg blinked on, and then Twilight jumped at the sudden metallic _clank_ and the slow hiss of steam that came from the leg. "What was that?" she asked.

"The pistons engaged!" Gadget exclaimed. Then she covered her mouth. "Oh, sorry, Mr. Vanderbull, I…"

"Oh, it's fine, Gadget," Vanderbull said kindly. "I understand your enthusiasm. But first, Test B."

"Right! Stomp Test B in 3… 2… 1!"

She pulled the lever a second time and again the leg stomped on the rock. But this time the rock shattered into tiny pieces that flew all over, scattering the room with gravel and dust. They all coughed at the sudden cloud.

"Oops," Gadget said, looking down. "I think I used too much force."

"Not a problem, we'll just be sure to clean the supplies and parts after this," Vanderbull said. "Now, then, Princess, what you saw in the first test was the leg working in a low-power neutral state. But we have found that the automaton has three distinct subsystems that it can utilize for extra abilities."

Gadget couldn't contain herself any longer. "It can imitate all three types of ponies!" she cried. "And that was its 'earth pony' mode!"

Vanderbull rolled his eyes, but he was obviously excited about the discovery as well. "That is correct. By engaging what we call 'E-Mode,' it can drastically increase the power in its legs as well as augment the body's sturdiness and pulling power. Not only that, it even activates sensors in the hooves that allow it to detect earth energies. Thus it can simulate earth pony strength and possibly the similar abilities that allow them to tend and grow plants."

"If that's your thing," Gadget muttered, making it fairly clear that farming wasn't her cup of tea.

Twilight was listening intently, but then turned to the other machines on the table. "Wait a minute. If what you're saying is right, then these other two things can let it simulate pegasi and unicorns?!"

"Exactly," Vanderbull said. "We found this hidden in a compartment in the automaton's back." He went around to a strange, trapezoidal box. It was silver and had two slots, one on each side. "Gadget, engage P-Mode."

She pressed a button and the green light went out, followed by a blue light on another corner turning on. The trapezoidal box in turn began to hum and then there was a loud rattling from inside it. A moment later, a pair of bright, brass-colored wings shot out from the sides, then raised into a 'V' shape. They were skeletal, still totally metallic, but a series of what looked like brass feathers ran down their length.

"It has wings? With feathers?" Twilight asked. "How? Why?"

"Actually," Vanderbull said, "these are _not_ really feathers, though they were obviously meant to mimic their shape. Instead, they are miniature jets. They fire streams of air to provide the machine with lift."

"Jets? They can propel the machine using nothing but air?!" Twilight was becoming more and more impressed by the second. Primitive jets were an old invention that had been around for a while and rockets on fireworks were a kind of jet, and she'd studied enough science to know that some ponies believed they might one day be used for transportation. Still, something like _this…_

"Observe, please," Vanderbull said, motioning for Twilight to step back. "This will get a bit noisy. Gadget?"

"Roger, Commodore!" She pressed a few more buttons and a slow wheezing came from the device. Then it slowly built to a high-pitched whine, then grew to a full-blown roar. Slowly, the trapezoidal box, held up by the wings, floated into the air, hovering in the air, tethered down with ropes and its own wires. Twilight could see the slight distortion coming from the hot air blowing from the tips of the feather-shaped jets. It hovered there for a good minute, wobbling slightly and whipping up a powerful wind around the room and blowing their manes all over.

Finally, Vanderbull gave the signal to cut the engine and Gadget reduced the power, letting it slowly return to the table before cutting the power entirely. The wings folded up and retracted back into the box like snakes returning to their burrow.

"That's amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, practically shouting. "Oh, sorry, my ears are still ringing!"

"Quite all right." Vanderbull was rubbing his own ears.

"Well, at least all that wind probably blew the dust from the last test off the equipment," Gadget commented, trying to be helpful.

"I suppose that's something," Vanderbull said with a shrug. "Now, onto the last mode, we won't actually test it because honestly we don't know how to make it work correctly." He motioned to the third subsystem. The last wire from the triangular device led to a tray filled with six different glass jars, each one sealed with a glass lid that had been made airtight with some type of sealant. A wire ran into each one through the lids and then out the bottom of the tray before mingling back into a braid of wires that eventually terminated in some strange conical metal shape.

"This is… what, the unicorn mode? 'U-Mode,' I guess?"

"Yes," Vanderbull replied. "You see, we discovered that the machine runs an electrical current through these jars and carries an electrochemical signal to this small cone. It was found in the head, just under a hidden panel in the forehead. It can telescopically extend outward when activated." He picked it up and extended it manually, showing her its true shape.

"Oh my gosh… it's… it's a horn!"

"Well, the mechanical equivalent of a unicorn horn, yes." Vanderbull tapped it, letting her hear it ring. It was definitely metallic, but it had a strange reverberating quality to it.

"May I see that?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, holding it out. She levitated the bright, golden-shaped object over to herself and looked at it carefully, noting the strange colors of it as it shined in the light. She gasped. "This horn is made of an orichalcum alloy! Orichalcum is a highly conductive element for channeling magic energy, but it's also rare and expensive! Whoever made this must have been very rich to get so much of it!"

Gadget coughed, getting Twilight's attention. "Please check the jars as well, Princess Twilight," she said. "We need you to confirm our theory."

Twilight looked to the jars curiously. Each one contained a different color. They were sealed shut and secured to the tray. The glass of the jars also had a strange green tint to it. "Magically reinforced glass. They'd be very hard to break. The liquid inside is…" She levitated the tray and moved it from side to side. The liquid inside barely moved. "It looks like it's not really liquid. More like a hardened gel. But if it's connected to the horn… then it must be part of something that can produce magic artificially!" She paused and her look grew more worried. She placed a hoof to her chin and looked at the jars more seriously.

"Is something wrong, Princess?" Vanderbull asked.

Twilight didn't respond at first, but suddenly cast a spell, firing a beam of magic at the jars, startling both the minotaur and the young mare in her presence. The jars each lit up and glowed brightly in sequence before dimming again.

"Just as I thought," Twilight said. "It's thaumatrium gel. Concentrated _mana."_

Vanderbull looked confused, Gadget only slightly less so.

"Mana?" Gadget asked. "Wait, isn't that basically what magic is made of?"

Twilight smiled, glad to be in more familiar territory. "Yes, that's pretty close. Mana is the ethereal energy that ponies use to cast magic. It's everywhere and any living thing can create it, but each pony has an individual _manafont_. It's like a storehouse of energy. You can run out if you cast too much, but you can also increase its potential with practice. Usually mana is inert, just sort of hanging around. But you can capture it as solid matter with some chemicals and practice and a lot of time. We call that solid matter 'thaumatrium.'"

Vanderbull nodded, listening intently. "So, it uses this material as a kind of magical fuel?"

"Exactly. What I'm thinking is that these jars of thaumatrium gel are meant to substitute for the automaton's manafont, since it's not an organic being. That's how it could cast magic. At least theoretically." Twilight considered this carefully. "This much gel would last a long time, but I'm not sure how powerful it could be. Most unicorns can do a lot of ordinary magic, levitate some light objects, not to mention a few other things like light manipulation… but if it has all three types of pony abilities, wouldn't it be like an alicorn?"

Vanderbull shook his head. "No, Princess." He pointed at the triangular object again. "And it's because of this device. We're calling it the Mode Switch because it seems to regulate and prevent the activation of more than one mode at a time. The automaton could fly or cast magic or break through a brick wall, but not all three at the same time."

"If it could imitate an alicorn," Gadget added, "that would make it an overpowered OC."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "OC?"

"Operational Construct."

"Ah. So, overpowering it would be bad?"

"Very bad." Gadget shut the entire system down, the electric hum fading. "Here, put your hoof over the Switch. Er, if you don't mind, Your Highness?" She winced, realizing she'd just been ordering around royalty.

"It's all right, Gadget," Twilight laughed. She did as Gadget asked and felt a strong heat coming from the Switch even when her hoof was half a meter away. "Whoa. That really warmed up fast."

"We believe that the Mode Switch was added late into the construction," Vanderbull said. "The subsystems already consume a lot of energy and thus produce a lot of heat. That heat could damage the machinery, and having all three subsystems activate at once would wreak havoc on the entire thing. It would run itself down in a matter of minutes."

Twilight considered this. "It's a good thing the designer came up with something to prevent that but still use different abilities, I suppose."

"It also explains the mane," Gadget quipped as she sifted through some of the other parts lying around the room, holding up one to examine it.

"Huh?" Twilight asked. "The mane? Why, what is it? I thought it was just for decoration."

"Oh, no no no, Princess Twilight, it's so much more than that!" she cried excitedly. She set down the part she held and went to another box labelled "MANE" and removed it.

Now removed from the automaton, Twilight saw it actually ran from the head, down the length of the body, and continued outward to the tail in one long continuous strand of hollow, conical coils. "Wait, so, it's the mane _and_ the tail?"

"Yes! And it's made of some light, flexible polymer that Mr. Vanderbull and I can't even identify! But see, the strands run along all the main systems in the torso here in the middle. The battery, the, um _manafont tray_ I guess, the wings, and so on. The mane and tail act as a heat sink! They pick up heat and draw it away from the systems and outside, dissipating the heat in the cooler outside air in front or back of the body. Form and function together! It's really quite brilliant!"

"Yes," Vanderbull said, almost begrudgingly. "I'm a little jealous of the mind that built this magnificent mechanical mare. This incorporates so much advanced technology. This isn't merely more advanced than the old automatons; it is a new machine entirely!" He sighed, but then grew calmer as he recomposed himself. "Still, we think we have everything we need. We have fixed the parts that were broken and identified all the others and learned their functions, even if we don't understand how those functions operate. Your Highness, with your permission, Gadget and I will begin reconstructing it. We should have it ready to activate by early evening."

"By this evening? So soon?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Unless you don't wish to," Vanderbull said. "I honestly would understand if you hesitated. This machine is so much more sophisticated than I even thought possible. It could, in fact, be dangerous. And we still have no idea why it journeyed to Ponyville or why it was seeking you out."

"But if we don't activate it," Gadget interjected, "we'll never get to see all the awesome stuff it can do! I even got an anemometer to test its wing power and-"

"Gadget!" Vanderbull snapped, silencing his over-eager protégée. "While it is true that there is much we can learn by activating it, Princess Twilight Sparkle knows this and we will abide by her decision."

"Y-yes, sir," she replied abashedly.

Twilight considered the matter carefully. _If we activate it, it could be dangerous. But if we don't, we might never know why it was built in the first place! What should I do…_

She mulled it over and finally made a decision: she was a princess now, but she had always been a student and seeker of knowledge since the day she was born. To shy away from learning more about this machine just wasn't her way of doing things.

"Okay, we'll activate it," she said (she smiled as Gadget reared up, kicking her legs happily, the mechanical limbs on her back giving triumphant fist pumps as well). "But I want to bring my friends here. Not just because I want to share the discovery with them, but also for extra protection. If something goes wrong, we need to be ready to stop it."

Vanderbull also smiled, clearly pleased and likewise eager to learn more. "We'll get right on it, Your Highness." He also took a note from his pocket and handed it to her. "This is a short list of the other systems we found and what they do. This may be of help to you in the future."

Twilight nodded and left to begin gathering her friends. She was practically bristling with excitement.

_How wonderful! Tonight!_ she thought. _I'm going to get to see a working independent automaton __**tonight!**_

* * *

The small room was growing crowded, Twilight noticed, now that everypony had gathered. It was in the early evening and the light from the sunset was still shining through the nearby window into the room where the newly reassembled automaton was laid on the table. The machine actually looked less like a broken thing and more like some sleeping creature now that it had been placed to be resting on its hooves.

"Does this thing really move?" Rainbow Dash asked, prodding the silent automaton doubtfully. "It doesn't look like it would." She tapped it with her hoof once, then again a bit harder, knocking on its head to produce a loud ringing.

"Ah, Miss Rainbow Dash, please!" Gadget cried. "You might damage it!"

"How?!" Rainbow asked. "I thought you guys said it could break through a brick wall if it needed to!"

"W-well, that's true, but-"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, just leave it alone for her sake until we know what it can do."

Twilight was now wearing her crown and had her other five friends gathered. In addition, the Mayor had arrived with her aide and there were a few reporters from the local newspaper. Vanderbull was back in his waistcoat, looking patient and dignified. Gadget was no longer wearing the Point Dexter and was back in her oversized coat. Rarity, by contrast, was dressed up as if attending an opera or a movie premier.

"Rarity, you look amazing!" Spike was practically floating at the sight of her in the elegant dress. "But then you _always_ look amazing."

"Oh, aren't you sweet, Spikey Wikey!" she said, beaming at him. She turned her attention to Gadget. "Oh, but Gadget, I do wish you'd taken me up on my offer to take you to the stylist to see about taking some of your mane out of your eyes and maybe a simple dress for the occasion."

Gadget gulped and eyed the reporters nervously, especially the photographer. "Th-that was very kind of you, but there wasn't time with the repairs, and I, um, didn't know Princess Twilight was going to bring the press. I hope they aren't going to take too many pictures."

"I know what you mean," Fluttershy said. "I really don't want everypony talking about how I look in the paper tomorrow." The two of them were practically huddled together, putting Rarity between themselves and the newsponies.

Pinkie Pie, on the other hand, was bubbling with her usual energy. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, we should have made this an 'Automaton Activation Party!' In fact, isn't that like a birthday for a machine? We should have had cake! At least I brought my party cannon!" She brought it out (seemingly from nowhere, as usual) and patted it with her hoof for emphasis.

"Honestly, I don't think it's quite the same thing as a birthday, Pinkie," Applejack said. She was eyeing the automaton even more suspiciously than before. "It ain't like that thing's even alive. And who knows what'll happen when it turns on!" She turned to Twilight at that. "Ya sure we even wanna try? I still say we shoulda brought more protection."

"I doubt we'll need it," Twilight assured her. "But just the same, you and Rainbow Dash brought some things, Mr. Vanderbull said he has an emergency shutdown plan, and if we really need to, we can use Rainbow Power to stop it. Relax, Applejack, we should be just fine."

Applejack was only slightly comforted by this. "I guess," she muttered.

The Mayor walked over to the pair of them. "Is everything all right, Princess Twilight?" she asked, her expression calm, but her eyes giving away her apprehension. "I was told this could be an impressive and historic night for Ponyville. The reporters are expecting this to go smoothly as well, and they will be documenting the whole event."

Twilight understood that the Mayor's concern was not just everypony's safety, but also the image this would project for the town.

"Don't worry, Your Honor," Twilight said. "I guarantee this will be something brand new and maybe even become the talk of all Equestria!"

The Mayor's eyes sparkled and she smiled. She kept that smile as she turned her head slightly, allowing the photographer to take a perfect snapshot of her standing next to Twilight.

Vanderbull coughed to get everypony's attention. "Ah, Your Highness, Your Honor? I believe we are ready to begin."

"Oh, yes, of course," Twilight said. "Miss Mayor, would you like to begin?"

"Yes, thank you, Princess Twilight!" She stepped before the automaton, looking to her aide, who was nodding with approval or shaking her head to give feedback with each thing she did. Currently she was nodding, so the Mayor smiled and addressed those gathered. "Ahem," she began, "ladies and gentlecolts. Our esteemed Princess Twilight Sparkle has brought a strange new scientific discovery to our attention. Tonight, we may find out the strange origin and the true nature of this mysterious... Iron Horse!" The reporters scribbled this down and she knew she'd struck the right chord. "And now, Her Highness will explain more about tonight's proceedings."

"Thank you, Miss Mayor," Twilight said, levitating a lengthy speech in front of her. "My friends, Miss Mayor, esteemed members of the scientific and journalistic community. It is my great pleasure to unveil the great achievement of Mr. Cornelius Vanderbull-"

Vanderbull puffed his chest out as several camera flashes captured his image.

"-and Miss Gadgette F. Giroux-"

"Eep!" the young mare cried as the photographers tried to photograph her.

"Er, as I was saying, with their efforts and the help of my friends, we have managed to put this broken automaton back together. Unlike automata of the past, this machine can reportedly operate totally independently, may be capable of speech, and has a variety of amazing abilities, which I look forward to exploring. You may be curious to know the history of modern automata, which begins with the revolutionary creations of inventor and clockmaker Henriette Marellardet..."

"_Just turn it on for pony's sake!"_ Rainbow Dash exploded, launching herself into the air.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cried, annoyed at being interrupted. "I'm trying to give some historical background so everypony can appreciate this event!"

"Yeah, well, you're putting Pinkie Pie to sleep," she said, rolling her eyes as she hovered.

They all looked and saw Pinkie was, in fact, asleep, leaning on a very annoyed Applejack.

"Psst, Pinkie!" Applejack hissed, rousing the sleeping pink pony.

"And she's not the only one who's bored. Heck, one of the reporters is drawing stick figures on his notepad." She turned and smirked at one of the reporters, who sheepishly put the notepad in his pocket. "Yeah, that's right, I noticed," RD added smugly.

"Oh fine!" Twilight groaned. "Mr. Vanderbull, can we begin?"

"Yes, Princess," Vanderbull said. He went to the automaton and gently lifted a tiny panel on the thing's back. "There is a button here. My assistant and I have already charged its battery, which should hold a charge for 24 to 48 hours. I merely need to press this button to activate it." He cleared his throat. "In the name of Her Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the town of Ponyville, and our great nation of Equestria, I do hereby activate this machine!" He pressed the button and stepped back as an electric hum was heard growing from inside the automaton.

"Ready, Rainbow Dash?" Applejack whispered.

"Ready, AJ," Dash whispered back. Applejack pulled a few steel horseshoes out of her back and held them in one hoof, ready to toss or buck them at the automaton if it made any false moves. Rainbow Dash held up a large wrench and hefted the weighty thing like a baseball bat. Vanderbull, for his own part, was holding up a strange device with a large magnet on the end.

"Should it be necessary," he said to the nervous-looking press and everypony else gathered, "this device will emit an electronic pulse that will scramble and disable its systems as a last resort."

The automaton continued to hum for a few more moments, but did not move. Various other noises from inside it were heard as systems switched on one-by-one. Clangs and hisses and the slow whir of clockwork formed a tiny symphony as the inner workings came to life individually. And then, surprising them all, the eyes suddenly came on, going from completely black to a bright, vibrant purple.

"_Booting main systems,"_ it intoned electronically. It rose to its hooves, repositioning itself as it stood on the table. The sound of brass hooves hitting the crystalline table rang out and everyone stared at it in awe.

The machine was covered in metallic plates that were welded or bolted together. The hooves were of brass, and flexible rubber at its knees and midsection allowed it to move smoothly. The coils that made up the mane and tail swayed slightly as it stood. Its ears were connected with a series of hinges and they squeaked slightly as they moved and twitched, seemingly to take in the sounds of the room. It had no mouth to speak of, but its electronic voice came from a speaker behind a series of openings in the rounded lower jaw where the mouth would have been. It even had a slight nose, although it clearly didn't need to breathe and nopony was sure if it could even smell.

Lastly, there were the eyes. Twilight knew they'd been crafted out of some magic-enhanced amethyst lenses, which explained the purple color. It stared outwards with those eyes; without eyelids it was incapable of blinking, and the effect of that glowing stare was mesmerizing to some of those gathered and unnerving to the others.

"Amazing," the Mayor breathed.

"By Celestia, what a story this will make!" a reporter said. "Get a picture, get a picture!" he said to his photographer.

The automaton paid no heed, but continued speaking in its artificial but distinctly feminine voice. "_System has recovered from failure. Mechanical function restored to 100% capability. Loading memory and higher function. 20 percent… 40 percent… 75 percent…"_ The thing's eyes narrowed, then returned to their full size. "_Error. Damage to memory detected. Unable to recover. Restoring to system defaults. Continuing boot-up sequence. Higher function restored."_

Rarity leaned over to Gadget who had stepped out from behind her to stare at the mechanical pony. "Um, is it just going to talk to itself all night?" she asked nervously.

"Huh?" Gadget asked, still stupefied by the thing in front of her. "Oh, uh, no, I don't think so. It's just reporting its status as it turns itself on."

"Sure is taking its sweet time," Rainbow Dash said, looking totally unimpressed.

The automaton raised its head slightly. "_Unit online. Scanning environment."_ It turned its head slowly, taking in its surroundings, getting a good look at all of them.

Without warning, it jumped back, lowering its head and arching its back, eyes going from purple to a very menacing red. "_Potential threats detected. Activating emergency self defense measures. E-mode activated."_

"Everypony stand back!" Gadget yelled. "It's turning on its earth pony mode to boost its strength before it attacks!" The reporters and the others backed away as Applejack and Rainbow Dash came forward.

"I knew it was up to no good!" Applejack shouted, preparing to start throwing horseshoes. Rainbow Dash took up her wrench while Vanderbull readied the electromagnetic device.

"NO!" Twilight shouted, putting herself between the automaton and the others.

"Twilight, be careful!" Fluttershy cried fearfully. Spike made to run over to her, but she held up a hoof, making it clear he was not to move.

"It's okay, everypony, it's okay!" she exclaimed. She looked over her shoulder. The machine was still in its defensive posture, but hadn't moved any further. She looked back to her friends. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Mr. Vanderbull, please put down your weapons!"

"Are you outta yer mind, Twilight?!" Applejack shouted. "Get away from that thing!"

"Yeah, Twilight, you could get hurt!" Rainbow Dash added fearfully, her eyes rapidly going from Twilight to the monstrosity behind her.

"No, listen!" Twilight shot back, growing more confident. "It scanned the environment and it thinks it's in danger! It's only trying to protect itself! Just put those things down!"

The others looked to each other. "Are you sure about this, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. "That thing doesn't look too friendly."

"I… yes, I'm sure," she replied, though even she looked nervous.

Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Vanderbull all shared a glance, then slowly each one set their weapons down on the floor.

Twilight looked back at the automaton, but it didn't budge and still looked like it was ready to attack. Scanning the room again, she tried to think to herself, _Okay, if I had just woken up and was surrounded by strange ponies, what would I find threatening?_ Then she saw.

"Pinkie!" she shouted. "The party cannon! Turn it the other way!"

"Huh? Aww," Pinkie said, though she complied.

Satisfied, Twilight turned back to the machine.

"Oh, be careful, Twilight!" Rarity cried.

"It's okay, it's okay," Twilight said. At first everypony thought she was still talking to them. Then they realized she was talking to the automaton. "See? Nopony is armed. We don't want to harm you. Please stand down."

The machine looked around the room a second time, then stood back to its normal position, its eyes returning to their purple color. "_Confirmed. Scans reveal no threats. Emergency self-defence deactivated. Cancelling E-Mode. Resuming normal operation."_

Everypony breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, Princess," Vanderbull said, "it appears that we can talk to it now, if you wish."

Twilight nodded. "Um, excuse me, uh… hello?"

The automaton looked to her, staring straight at her. "_No end user has been specified. Do you wish to register as my end user?"_

Twilight was taken aback. "I… huh?"

"Princess, it's asking if you're its master! Er, mistress!" Gadget explained.

"M-master?" Twilight asked.

"If you do, it will follow your orders. And answer any _questions_ you have." She looked at her meaningfully.

"Oh!" Twilight exclaimed, realizing that this would be a great way to get some answers. She turned back to the automaton. "Yes. I will be your end user."

"_Registering. Please identify yourself."_

Twilight paused. "Um… my name is Twilight Sparkle. Does that name have any meaning to you?" she asked slowly. This was the moment of truth. The thing had been found in Applejack's orchard and it had asked for her name. They might find out for certain why it had been seeking her in the first place.

"_Scanning memory…"_ it intoned. It was silent for a few moments. "_No results found. Subject 'Twilight Sparkle' is unknown."_

"What?!" Twilight cried. "But… you were looking for me before we fixed you!"

"_Unable to determine. No memory prior to this activation is present."_

Vanderbull came in closer. "It might have lost its memory from the lightning strike," he suggested. "We had to replace a lot of its parts, but we couldn't get into its memory unit without risking breaking it. It could have easily been wiped due to the electrical discharge."

"That," Applejack said, likewise stepping closer, "or whoever sent it made it lie to ya, Twilight."

They all looked to the automaton with suspicion, but it made no reaction whatsoever.

"Why isn't it saying anything?" Fluttershy asked, looking at it nervously.

"Oh my, it is a bit unnerving," Rarity agreed. "It's just… standing there."

Twilight made a face. "Relax, everypony, please. She's not hurting anypony."

"Wait, 'she?'" Rainbow Dash echoed Twilight's phrasing.

"Yeah, she sounds like a mare to me."

"_I am modeled to simulate the female form,"_ the automaton said, startling everyone as it joined in the conversation. "_I am designated Unit 003M. The M designates me as a 'mare' type model. Information about my origin and original directive is unknown. I am now registered to end user Twilight Sparkle and will obey her commands. Please designate my Primary Directive."_

Twilight was again confused by the machine's request. "Your… Directive?"

"I believe," Vanderbull said, "that it wants to know what its purpose is. It is capable of so much, so whatever you tell it to do, it will make that its priority!"

"Oh! Princess, if you tell it that it's designed for research," Gadget said, "we could have it run a bunch of tests back in Manehatten!"

Twilight stood there before this mechanical wonder, barely registering what Gadget had said. She stared at the automaton with amazement and it only stared back with unblinking eyes. Still, that it innately trusted her, directly asked _her_ to tell it what it should do with its _existence_ was both daunting and tantalizing. She could determine a new course for this strange new discovery.

Then she remembered what Vanderbull had told her. Celestia would no doubt find out the machine had been activated, if not from Twilight then from the newspapers. The machine that stood before her had just been activated and already it could be in jeopardy if Princess Celestia ordered it seized or destroyed. And since it had offered up no information about who had created it or sent it, destruction was a distinct possibility. Unless it was doing something related to Twilight's purpose, of course…

"All right," Twilight said, smiling. "Listen, um, Unit 003M. Here is your new Primary Directive." The crowd of them stood silent, awaiting to hear what Twilight would order the machine to do.

"Your new Primary Directive… is to _make friends."_

One could almost feel the change in tone in the air with this strange request and they all looked to the automaton. And then it did something curious.

It actually cocked its head, as if it was just as confused by the request as everypony else. "_Please confirm. You wish me to 'make friends'?"_

Twilight looked around nervously, but decided to continue. "Yes. I want you to find other ponies and befriend them. Do you understand?"

It righted its head, twitching its ears on its hinges, and said "_Understood. Primary Directive 'Make friends,' has been engaged."_

It hopped off the table suddenly, causing them all to jump. Scanning the room, it settled on Fluttershy and trotted over to her, hooves clanking all the while. Fluttershy regarded its approach with horror and she curled herself into a ball.

"_Yellow pegasus,"_ it said, pointing at her with one metallic hoof, "_what is your designation?"_

"W-what?"

"_Identify yourself immediately."_

The sternness of this command caused Fluttershy to cower even more, but she managed to croak out, "F-Fluttershy."

"_Fluttershy, you are hereby designated as a friend. You have 20 seconds to comply."_

"W-what?" She looked to the others for help.

"_15 seconds."_

"Eep! Okay, sure, greatseeyoulater!" And with that, she flew to Twilight's window, propped it open, and fled out into the night, leaving them all behind.

"_Mission successful,"_ the automaton said, turning back to Twilight. "_Mistress, shall I proceed to my next target?"_

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead, then addressed the doubtful looks from everypony else there. "Um… well, I do love a challenge! Ha ha… heh…"

It was going to be the start of a long process, but Twilight had already made up her mind, no matter what anyone else thought. She was the Princess of Friendship and if _anypony_ could teach friendship to a machine, it was her!

* * *

**To be continued...**


	4. Uncanny Valley

**The Iron Horse**

**Part 4**

"**Uncanny Valley"**

* * *

"Bye! Thank you so much for coming!" Twilight said as she waved to the Press and the Mayor as they departed the castle. "We hope you found tonight, um… interesting!"

They all waved back as they ventured into the night, smiling somewhat uncomfortably. Twilight didn't blame them, of course; the night hadn't exactly gone smoothly. And now, she realized as she turned back inside to return to the room, she had to deal with her friends' reactions now that the newsponies had left and they were sure nothing they'd say would end up in the paper.

Naturally, Applejack was the first to speak: "Are you outta yer _mind?!"_

Twilight looked to the still unmoving automaton as it sat nearby. It was watching them all, swiveling its head to instantly lock on to whoever was speaking, which was a bit unnerving. Still, she took a breath and decided to show her resolve.

"I am perfectly rational, _thank you, _Applejack," she replied, holding her head up high. "We put this machine together and she is capable of so many things, so why not friendship?"

"That's actually a good question," Gadget said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "It does show remarkable intelligence and autonomy, so maybe it could."

Rainbow Dash scoffed loudly. "Yeah, right! Did you see how it 'made friends' with Fluttershy? She just screamed and ran out of the building!"

"Well, admittedly, that's not an abnormal reaction from her even to normal ponies," Rarity said. "Though I have to agree. Twilight, this does seem a little unrealistic." She noted the automaton staring at her and she shuddered. "And that's putting it mildly."

"Okay, so she's got a lot to learn," Twilight admitted, "but it's not fair to not give her a chance! Maybe she just needs practice!"

Vanderbull coughed, getting their attention. "I confess, Princess Twilight, I thought at first this 'friendship' idea was merely a ploy to placate Princess Celestia, should she wish to confiscate the automaton. However, it seems you are serious. While Gadget and I are quite sure it can think somewhat independently, I must warn you that we have _no_ indication that it is at all capable of having **emotions**. That, as they say, is a horse of a different color."

"And in this case, it's metallic gray!" Pinkie added 'helpfully.'

Twilight considered this. "Well, we could try asking her," she suggested. They all turned to the automaton. "Um, Unit 003, is it?"

"_Affirmative."_

Twilight flinched at the sudden, stiff response, but continued. "I'd like to ask you something. Do you have emotions?"

The automaton's eyes narrowed momentarily. "_Checking current functions… no emotions have been detected."_

"See, I told ya so!" Applejack exclaimed. "How can ya teach friendship to somethin' that can't even have emotions?!"

"_That phrasing is incorrect,"_ the automaton intoned, catching them off guard. "_The indication was that this unit is not __**currently**_ _experiencing emotions. However, no query was put forth as to whether or not such a function was __**possible**__."_

Twilight, Vanderbull, and Gadget were intrigued. "Okay then, 003," she said, "then let's find out. Is it _possible_ for you to have emotions?"

"_Checking query,"_ it said, its eyes narrowing as the noise of gears and things inside it grew louder, as did the slight electric hum coming from it. They stood and waited… and waited… and _waited_ for it to respond.

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "Is this thing ever going to-"

"_Systems scanned. Query analyzed,"_ the machine said, startling them again with its abruptness.

"And…?" Twilight asked.

"_Results inconclusive,"_ it said, drawing a giant sigh from everypony in the room.

"I don't understand," Rarity said. "How can it not know if can have feelings or not?"

"I know, right!" Pinkie Pie agreed. "I can always tell how I'm feeling! But then I've had lots and lots of practice feeling all sorts of things!"

"Hey, that might work!" Twilight said, a look of inspiration dawning on her. "Maybe Unit 003 just needs more experiences to learn emotions! That might work!"

"_The possibility exists,"_ the machine said. "_This unit is capable of learning and imitating ponies through observation and analysis. Emotions could be included in this."_

"Emotions don't work that way, ya darn machine!" Applejack exploded. "There's more to emotions than just imitatin'!" She turned to Twilight, practically seething. "Twilight, this thing is a dangerous hunka metal and nothin' more! You can't teach it to have feelings or make friends any more than you could teach a rock!"

"Ooh," Pinkie murmurred, "don't let Maud hear you say that, or-"

"Whatever!" she shouted. "Heck, this thing doesn't even have a proper name!"

"_I am identified as Unit 003M, indicating that-"_

"Like I said, not a PROPER name! That ain't a name, it's a number!"

Twilight nodded. "You might be right about one thing, Applejack," she said, turning slyly to the automaton. "Calling her 'Unit Zero Zero Three' sounds odd. Come on, everypony, let's think of a new nickname for her!"

The room went silent. Applejack and Rainbow Dash just looked at Twilight in a way that showed they were not convinced she was serious. Luckily for Twilight, the others were far more enthusiastic.

"Brass Starlight!" she shouted. "It's such a cool name and it's also pretty and it also sounds a little bit like your name, Princess, because you know 'Twilight?' 'Starlight?' it totally works!"

"Hm," Twilight said, considering the first suggestions. "No. That's a pretty name, but it just doesn't seem to fit her very well."

"Perhaps something a bit more descriptive?" Vanderbull offered. "Brass Hooves?" He pointed at her hooves, which, as everypony could see, were made of brass.

"Too mundane," Twilight said, shaking her head. "Sorry, Mr. Vanderbull, but there are a ton of ponies with the last name 'Hooves.'"

"Well, we could name it 'Smith,' since some form of metal smithing went into making it and Smith is, after all, quite a rare name in Equestria."

"No, no, come on, let's come up with something a little more catchy!"

Rarity was next to make a suggestion. "I have it! 'Amethyst Gleam!' Her eyes _are_ amethysts, correct? And they are gleaming, aren't they?"

They all looked to the automaton, noticing the brightness of its purple eyes.

"Well…"

"_That statement is inaccurate,"_ it said. "_This unit is equipped with lenses shaped from amethyst, but the light emitted is not a true reflective gleam, but the glow of electric filaments designed to detect energies and light beyond the normal pony visible spectrum."_

They all stared at it.

"I guess that's out then," Twilight sighed.

"A pity," Rarity added, sighing right along with her.

"Gear Shift?" Spike proposed. Twilight shook her head. "Top Gear?" he tried again.

"No, something at least descriptive of her!" Twilight said.

"Heh," Applejack chuckled, "then how 'bout ya just name it Junk Heap?"

This got Rainbow Dash snickering. "Oh, or maybe Rust Bucket!" she added.

"Ha! Good one, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack laughed.

Twilight stared daggers at the two of them. "Come on, Applejack, Rainbow Dash! You both have a lot of creativity, can't you think of something more, I don't know, feminine?"

Applejack considered this, and Twilight thought she might be taking it more seriously.

"Jalopy Jane!" she exclaimed, bursting into laughter, which soon spread to Rainbow Dash.

"Okay that's-"

"No, no, wait, I've got one, AJ: Clanky!" Rainbow shot back. "Because it keeps making noise every time it moves!"

"Ha! How 'bout Motorhead?"

"Wind-up!"

"Tin Can!"

"Hahahaha! Wait, I got it, AJ: Twilight wants feminine? How about 'Enginiffer!'"

"WILL YOU TWO CUT IT OUT?!" Twilight shouted, silencing the pair's attempts to outdo each other. "If you're not going to come up with serious names, then maybe you should just leave!"

Applejack shrugged her shoulders. "Fine by me," she said. "Don't take it personal, Twi, but I just don't think that _machine"_ here she eyed the automaton suspiciously "is capable of anything but calculatin' and talkin' funny."

As Applejack walked out of the room, eyes turned to Rainbow Dash. "Ehh, I've gotta admit, I kind of agree with AJ. But I'll still stick around if it means we get to choose an awesome name!"

Twilight smiled, though they were still no closer to settling on a name. She turned to the only one so far who hadn't suggested a name.

"Pinkie, do you have something?" she asked.

Pinkie tapped her noggin, sticking her tongue out and squinting one eye as she thought. "Ummm… ooh, how about 'Autumn Eight!' Get it, because it sounds like 'Automate!' Hee hee!"

Twilight nodded appreciatively. "The 'eight' part doesn't quite fit, but that's pretty clever, Pinkie! Okay, come on, everypony, we can do it!"

"I know, I know," Gadget said, "we could name her 'Aya,' since she's an artificial intelligence, or A.I., just like the character in that great movie serial, 'Green Lampony: The Animated Serial!'"

"Oh my gosh, I love that serial!" Spike gushed. "Can you believe they cancelled it?"

"I know! And on a cliffhanger! Oh, it was so romantic and sad and I wanted to know if her boyfriend would ever find her-"

"-and if he was really going to become a Blue Lampony! Well, I've got a theory that-"

"Gadget!" / "Spike!" Vanderbull and Twilight both said in unison, silencing the prattling of their respective assistants.

"Ugh, why is this so difficult?" Twilight groaned. "Does anypony have something else? Anything good?"

Vanderbull scratched his head before suggesting: "Ironsides?"

"_My lateral external hull is largely composed of alloys other than iron, such as-"_

"Yes, yes, fine," Vanderbull said, cutting off the automaton before it went into more literal reasons why the name wouldn't work.

"Uh, Electric Charger?" Spike offered.

"No, no, no!" Twilight said, shooting that one down. "We want something that sounds less like an appliance."

"Copper Clock?" Rainbow suggested.

"Same basic problem, so no."

"Welllll," Rarity began, searching her thoughts, "it's made of clockwork, so… maybe something more simple and elegant like… 'Spinning Cog!'"

They were all silent at that. "Hey, that's not bad, Rarity!" She turned to the automaton. "Any objections?"

That automaton again turned its head and shifted its ears. Twilight was starting to understand that this was something it did when it was confused… or maybe just didn't immediately know how to answer the question. She thought it was rather cute. Maybe she could warm up to this machine, and soon the others would-

"_The name is acceptable,"_ it intoned.

"Hurray!" Twilight cheered, kicking her legs in the air. "Everypony, I now officially present Spi-"

"_Granted, its accuracy is offset by the logical oddity of naming this unit for only one of its parts, and not one that is outwardly significant."_

Rainbow Dash groaned. "This thing speaks more Egghead than you, Twilight. What's it saying?"

"_To clarify and put it in terms you might understand, it would be the equivalent of naming a pony _'_**Functional Intestine.'"**_

The room was silent as a tomb.

"Ech," Rarity said, breaking the silence. "Well, we can't possibly use 'Spinning Cog' now. I'll never be able to get _that_ name out of my head if we do."

Twilight collapsed, sliding to the floor in frustration. "Okay, I give up. Maybe I'll have some better ideas in the morning. That's it for now, everypony, thanks for coming!"

* * *

As Twilight led her guests to the door, chatting all the way, Vanderbull had his own business to attend to. "Gadget?" he whispered, getting his assistant's attention.

"Hm? Yes, Commodore?"

"Come with me, please, I'd like to speak with you in private."

"Huh? O-oh," she said, lowering her ears, thinking she'd done something wrong.

When they were out in the hall, Vanderbull continued what he had to say. "I realize it has been an abnormally long day and I can tell you are tired, but I want you to do one last favor for me before we turn in for the evening."

"Ah, of course, sir!" she said, snapping to attention, glad that she was apparently not in trouble.

"I'd like you to go to the local telegraph office and have word sent to Alfredo to bring the private train tomorrow around 9 or 10 o'clock at the latest. It's time to return home."

"You… you're leaving, sir?" she asked, puzzled by this sudden decision.

"No, actually _we're_ leaving. We have to get back to work."

"But… but what about the automaton?!"

"Gadget, we-"

"Please, sir, this is a lifelong dream of mine!"

"Well, young as you are, that's not really so long," he replied jokingly. Sadly, the humor was lost on her.

"But there is so much to learn and we can study this machine directly! We have to stay! I have to find out more!"

"Gadget."

"Please, sir!" she cried, bursting into tears and actually latching onto his leg with her own. "Please please _please_ let me stay!"

"Gadget, control yourself!" he snapped gruffly. "Look at yourself. Begging? Really, I thought I had taught you to compose yourself more professionally."

"B-but…" she blubbered.

"This is why I called you out here; I had a feeling you would react this way and the last thing anyone needs is to see you making a scene. Now, I am sorry, and that automaton truly is a treasure of science. There's a wealth of knowledge to be had here and if there was any way we could take it with us, then you can be sure that is what I would do. However, that mechanical pony belongs to Her Highness. For now, she will take charge of it."

"Do you… I'm sorry, I hate to doubt Princess Twilight, but do you think it really can learn to be friends with ponies?"

"In all honesty, I think it's a bit of a waste of time," he said, somewhat quieter. "But that's not important. What matters is that she has a reason, in fact the _best_ reason, for keeping the automaton safe. I believe that Princess Celestia would likely confiscate it from anypony else who laid claim to it, including us. Twilight Sparkle, however, is still royalty and friendship is her domain, and if I know Celestia, then she will respect that. We can let it be and, should Her Highness decide that she can't teach the machine friendship, then hopefully by that time Princess Celestia will have overcome her initial fear. Then we can take it back to Manehatten."

"That could work," Gadget admitted reluctantly. "But in the meantime, the testing-"

"In addition to her own goal, I'm sure Her Highness, with her equal love of science, would be willing to conduct some experiments on our behalf."

"I… yes, sir, but… how can you just leave it in someone else's hooves?" She wiped her eyes on her sleeves, finally getting better control of herself, but still upset and frustrated. "Don't you want to see what it can do firsthand?"

"Yes, and that's why I came in the first place. But the truth is that we came at a fairly bad time. I would never have taken time away from the business had it not been for how special this discovery is. But now I need to return to work. That blasted Rockefoaler is demanding a deeper discount for shipping his cargo on the train lines, Dodge Junction needs more security from bandits, and we need to establish more stops for refueling on the way to Appleloosa. Do you know that they still need to have stallions pull the train for the last leg of the trip just to conserve fuel?"

She made a face. "Still? Also, Rockefoaler? That guy gives me the creeps."

"Yes. And I think he wants to take this bull by the horns. So now you see why I need to be back."

"Then why can't _I_ at least-"

"Gadget, listen carefully: we did not get the information we were after tonight. We still do not know who built this marvel or for what reason. I need you to go off the list of parts incorporated into the automaton and try to determine who had the means, knowledge, and time to build it. Nopony else has that sort of encyclopedic knowledge or the skill to find the answer quickly. My young friend, I am serious: I _need_ your help, and you will be helping Princess Twilight as well."

She swallowed and bowed her head. "Y-yes sir. I'm sorry, I just got too excited."

Vanderbull smiled. "Nothing so wrong with that," he said, ruffling her messy mane affectionately. "Your zeal for science is admirable. The world needs more excited enthusiasts. But in the meantime, we must play it safe until we are certain that the danger has passed."

"Right, Mr. Vanderbull." She smiled weakly and saluted. "I'll head to the telegraph office."

"And I'll let Princess Twilight know our plans and thank her for her time. I'm certain she'll be eager to get on with her new project."

* * *

That night, Twilight was lying in bed as she tossed and turned. She'd been asleep, but had finally woken up after some half-remembered nightmare. There was some metallic sound, she remembered that much, and then… she couldn't remember. Her troubled thoughts were making it hard to settle down.

The whole evening had been a mixture of success and failure, she supposed. On one hand, they had managed to reactivate the automaton, but 'Unit 003' had no useful information for them. They discovered that it really was intelligent and could interact without someone controlling it, but it wasn't exactly endearing with its cold, mechanical voice and mannerisms. It didn't seem dangerous, but she had to admit she was feeling more nervous now that Vanderbull had told her that he and Gadget were leaving. Without their help, she was the only one who even seemed to care about protecting it.

She remembered what Applejack had said: "_I just don't think that machine" here she eyed the automaton suspiciously "is capable of anything but calculatin' and talkin' funny."_ Those words were starting to sink in.

_How did I expect everypony to react?_ she asked herself. _Unit 003 __**is**_ _a machine, after all. But maybe with some practice I can teach her to act more normally around ponies. Maybe…_

"Augh!"

Twilight sat up at the sound of Spike's yelping and was even more startled when he jumped onto her bed, looking like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Spike? What in Equestria are you do-augh!" she screamed as she looked up.

There, at the foot of her bed, a pair of purple eyes stared at her, burning brightly in the darkness, practically boring a hole into her very being.

"_Good evening, Twilight Sparkle."_ The machine spoke as though Twilight had simply awoken from a light nap, rather than getting scared half to death.

"T-twilight?" Spike whispered. "What is it doing in the bedroom?"

"I… 003? Were you… were you _watching_ me while I slept?"

"_Affirmative."_

"What? Why?!"

"_You have not given me new orders. Furthermore, in your unconscious state, you were vulnerable. To better serve my end user, it seemed logical to be prepared to receive my next orders and stand watch in case of danger."_

"Uh…"

"_I have also been closely monitoring your biological functions. Your breathing and heart rate seem normal. Also, judging by the sounds emitted by your tract, are likely digesting your most recent meal sufficiently."_

"Get out of my room!" she screamed. "You nearly gave me and Spike a heart attack!"

"_Now exiting room. In clarification, though your heart rates increased upon waking, there is no indication of cardiac arrest."_

It turned, the shine from its eyes dimly illuminating the room as it moved to the door. The gears and things inside it were heard with each metallic step that echoed throughout the room. When it reached the door, it opened it and then stopped to stand in the doorway, creating a strange black silhouette, its purple eyes going back to that same piercing stare.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked, growing more and more irritated.

"_I have left your room, Twilight Sparkle. I will now resume monitoring you. I await further orders when you regain consciousness."_

"Oh for pony's sake!" Spike exclaimed. "Can't you just go to bed or something?"

"_I am capable of going into a low-powered 'sleep mode' to conserve power when not doing anything. However, I would be unable to stand guard capably if placed in such a state of low function."_

"Look, that's fine," Twilight said, "just go back downstairs and go to sleep."

"_Proceeding to location. You may reactivate me by addressing me or simply tapping my cranial hull. Auditory sensors will enable me to reboot quickly."_

"Yes, okay, go!" Twilight said, just wanting that automaton out of her bedchamber. She watched as it turned around and walked away. She heard it clanking and the gears turning even as it went down the hall and then clanked loudly on every last step right until it finally made it downstairs.

"That thing creeps me out," Spike whispered once he was fairly certain 003 was out of hearing range.

"I know," Twilight said.

"And I don't think the others like it very much either," he added, hopping off her bed and returning to his own.

"Well, that's too bad, because she's going to stay with us for a while. Let's just try to get back to sleep, okay?"

But inwardly, even she was starting to doubt her capability of teaching it how to interact, let alone teaching it friendship. She settled back into bed, however, and let herself relax. The warmth of the sheets wrapped around her was comforting and soon the regular breathing coming from her assistant lulled her to the edge of sleep.

_It's down there._

Her eyes went wide as that one thought suddenly came to the surface. _You don't know who built it, but that machine with no feelings and a mind of its own is downstairs. It is __**in your house**_ _and even when it "sleeps" it can still hear you, which means it isn't really asleep at all. It was watching you. It will keep watching you. It will imitate you. It may one day decide to __**replace**_ _you. That __**thing**_ _is down there, waiting, and it will never stop thinking, and the moment it feels threatened, it may attack you._

She shivered. She told herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. Nevertheless, it was another hour before she finally nodded off, and she only fell asleep then after utterly wearing herself out as she struggled with all the possible outcomes of what would happen to herself and her friends all because she had let that horrible thing into her house.

* * *

Twilight opened her eyes. The room was quiet now, and not even the sound of Spike's breathing could be heard. She sat up in bed, levitating the sheets off of herself. The room was brighter now as the sunlight ebbed through the windows. With a quick look around, she confirmed Spike was not in the room.

"Spike?" she asked uncertainly. She stepped out into the hallway. "Spike?" she called again, her voice echoing in the hallway. The events from last night still haunted her. That machine. The eyes. It had been in her room. What if it had returned? What if it had done something? What if Spike had done something and it went into its self-defense mode again and then…

"Spike!" She was shouting his name now, and her panic began to grow. She galloped down the hallway and then to the stairs. She didn't even bother to take them but instead teleported down them and looked all around. _Wait a minute,_ she thought, _didn't I tell 003 to go downstairs? But then… where is it? _And then she heard a sound coming from the kitchen.

Carefully, as stealthily as she could, she made her way to the kitchen and let her magic gently envelop the door handle. She took a deep breath and then threw it open violently.

"Where's Spike?!" she bellowed.

In front of her, to her surprise, was Gadget. She had the Point Dexter on again and she appeared to be using her various mechanical hands to make breakfast. A few hands were cooking and seasoning an omelette. Another pair was mixing some batter in a bowl. The poor girl nearly dropped all of her things in fright when Twilight burst into the room. "Oh! Um, good morning, Princess Twilight!" she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Gadget?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"I thought I'd make breakfast for you and Spike. And, um, by the way, Spike is actually behind the door."

Twilight turned and let the door shut. Apparently, in her haste to open it, she had accidentally smashed the poor dragon behind it, upending the platter of toast he had been carrying in the process.

"Oh my gosh, Spike, are you okay?" she asked. "I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, grunting as he brushed the butter, jam, and toast off himself. "This toast is toast, though."

"Ha!" Gadget laughed. "I bet Miss Pinkie would like that joke!"

"Wait, a minute," Twilight said, shaking her head, still feeling slightly panicked. "Where is the automaton?"

"What do you mean, Twilight? 003 is right there," Spike said, pointing to the other end of the kitchen.

Twilight turned. "Gah!" she shouted in surprise.

The automaton was standing by the counter squeezing an orange over a pitcher, slowly juicing it between its hooves. "_Good morning, Twilight Sparkle,"_ it said. "_Your heart rate indicates distress. Are you injured or do you require assistance?"_

"I… no, but… what are you… er, Gadget, what is it doing?"

"Making orange juice," she replied casually.

"_Affirmative. I am exsanguinating oranges for consumption of their juice as part of a complete breakfast."_ It finished juicing one orange, set the flattened fruit down, and picked up another, methodically juicing it in the exact same way.

"What? Why?"

"_Gadget Giroux reactivated me 34 minutes ago by means of mentioning my name and enlisted me to assist with the preparation of the meal."_

"She said she wanted to stand guard by the door in case of intruders for whatever reason, but then I convinced her to help me out."

"_That is correct. As a biological being, Twilight Sparkle requires regular intake of sustenance. It was logical that I contribute to the well-being of my end user toward that goal."_ It finished juicing the orange. "_Oranges depleted. Insert additional citrus to continue."_

"I think that's enough juice, 003," Gadget said. "Can you pour this batter into the biscuit tray for me, please?"

"_I am able. Twilight Sparkle,"_ it said, getting her attention, "_shall I continue to assist Gadget Giroux or do you require me for a separate task?"_

"What? I mean… no, that's fine," she answered, eyeing it warily.

"_Proceeding with batter distribution,"_ it said.

"You can go wait in the dining room if you want, Princess," Gadget said, turning her attention to the omelette. "Mr. Vanderbull's having some tea and reading the paper. I'm putting mushrooms, tomatoes, and peppers in this omelette and it is going to be de-lish-us!"

"Okay," Twilight said slowly, then stopped. "Wait, did you just call Unit 003 a 'she?'"

"Uh-huh," she replied. "Why? Didn't you call her a 'she' last night?"

Twilight nodded. "I… I did, yes. Hm."

She turned and went to the dining room. Decorated up in Rarity's accents, it really was a wonderful place to enjoy a meal, although even that wasn't enough to put her completely at ease. Sitting at the table, a teacup in one hand, a folded newspaper in the other, was Vanderbull.

"Ah, good morning, Your Highness," he said, smiling warmly. "It seems we made the front page."

He offered Twilight the paper and she levitated it to herself to read the story. There on the front page, taking up a huge section of the top half, in fact, was the picture of Unit 003 right as it had been activated last night. Twilight and Vanderbull and a few of her friends were in the other pictures. The headline was bold and clear across the top:

**The Iron Horse!**

**Harrowing Tale of the Thinking Machine!**

"Wow," Twilight said. "This is going to get some attention."

"I imagine the story will hit Canterlot soon." Vanderbull took a sip of his tea. "I wonder what Princess Celestia's reaction will be. You might get quite a letter today, Your Highness."

Twilight gulped. Though the article was mostly positive, the reporters had included the incident when the automaton had nearly attacked them. Celestia was probably _not_ going to be pleased about that.

"Nothing to be done about it now," Vanderbull continued. "I'm sure this will all calm down soon. Though I do hate to leave you at such a juncture. If Gadget and I could stay, I assure you we would."

"No, I… I guess I can handle things on my own. Well, not really 'on my own.' My friends will help!"

"One would hope they'd be more receptive to the machine, but I suppose some resistance is expected. It isn't exactly cute and cuddly."

_You can say that again,_ Twilight thought, but she kept the sentiment to herself.

Just then, Gadget entered, carrying four different plates with her mechanical hands. "Breakfast is served!" she exclaimed.

"Great, I'm starving!" Spike said, taking his place at the table.

Following Gadget, to everyone's surprise, was Unit 003. A platter of toast was balanced perfectly on its back, which was made even more impressive as it was holding the pitcher of orange juice steadily on one hoof as it walked.

"Such a finely-tuned, incredible work of technological innovation," Vanderbull breathed. Then he frowned. "And _we're_ using it to make and serve breakfast of all things."

"Here are your eggs, everypony!" Gadget said cheerfully, setting the food before them all. 003 followed suit.

They all began their meal, taking a bite.

"Mmm!" Twilight's first bite of the omelette was a little piece of heaven. "Wow, this is delicious! Thank you, Gadget!"

"You're welcome, Princess!" she replied with a smile. Then she was curiously silent as if waiting for something. "Um… and?"

Twilight took a drink of orange juice. "And… what?"

"Well, it's just that, you know, um… 003 helped too."

Twilight turned. The automaton was sliding the tray of toast onto the table, going about its business without interruption.

"All right then," Twilight began. "Uh, thank you for helping with breakfast, Unit 003."

"_Gratitude acknowledged."_

Twilight blinked. "Was that its way of saying 'You're welcome?'"

"Ha!" Spike said, digging into the toast. "I think she's funny! Last night she was a little creepy, but she's kind of cool when she's just helping around the castle! Looks like with me, Owloysius, and now her, you have 3 assistants!"

_She_. Apparently Spike was fine with using the feminine too.

"Oh, by the way, everypony," Vanderbull said, "we should probably eat quickly and then Gadget and I must finish packing away our things. I received a telegram while you were all in the kitchen and it seems that our train will arrive around 9:30."

Gadget sagged visibly at this news. "Yes, Commodore," she said quietly.

Twilight felt for the poor girl. She really was interested in the automaton, even more than Twilight. In fact, judging by how well she had co-opted it to make breakfast, she might be the one best suited to "training" it.

_No, no, I said I would teach it friendship, so I will learn how to interact with it. I can do this!_

"Well, I will be glad to go with you both to the train station and see you off, if you like," Twilight offered.

"Really?" Gadget exclaimed. "Oh, yes, thank you!"

Vanderbull smirked as he resumed reading his paper.

"It's my pleasure. Besides, you've even shown me how I can start working with Unit 003! We'll get along fine!"

She was about to take another bite of her omelette when she turned and saw 003 standing right next to her, staring at her again with those glowing purple eyes.

"...Eventually," she added.

* * *

A few hours later, they were at the train station and watching Vanderbull's servants load up the crates of supplies they'd brought back onto his private train. Spike and Unit 003 were back at the castle cleaning up after breakfast.

"I really can't thank you enough. Both of you." Twilight smiled at the odd pair, the hulking minotaur in the fine suit and the messy little earth pony filly with the mechanical limbs. "I'll be sorry to see you go."

"Yes, it was quite the experience and a genuine delight to meet you, Your Hi- ahem, Twilight."

Both Twilight and Gadget gawked at the sound of him finally dropping the formal title altogether.

"I… wow," Gadget began, trying to find her words. "Er, what I mean is that I will also miss you T-t-t-t-Twilight." She blushed profusely.

Twilight suppressed a laugh.

"Maybe it is just as well that we leave, though," Gadget continued. "There is this blue-green unicorn that saw my mechanical hands when I went to the telegraph office last night and I think she's been stalking me ever since."

Twilight looked over her shoulder just in time to see Lyra ducking back behind the corner of the train station.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Twilight said.

"So," Gadget said, changing the subject, "it'll be interesting to see if you can really teach Unit 003 friendship. I mean, it's a fascinating machine, but who can say if it's even really conscious at all?"

"Yeah," Twilight sighed. "But it shouldn't be too hard, right? I mean, it can talk and respond to things we say to it, so it must be conscious, right?"

"Not according to the Griffonese Room Argument."

"The what now?"

Vanderbull put his hand to his forehead. "Oh no, there she goes again," he muttered. "I'll go supervise the help while you prattle on, Gadget." He left the two of them behind.

Gadget, undaunted, continued her explanation. "There was this philosopher named Searle Biscuit around when automatons were becoming popular and some of them were getting pretty sophisticated. Some ponies thought one day they could program machines with punch cards and stuff so they could talk and think like we do. He said it wasn't possible."

"Why?"

"He gave an example. Do you know anything about Old Griffonese?"

Twilight nodded. "It's what griffons used to speak as their main language in the Griffon Kingdom before they adopted Equestrian. It's mostly ceremonial now. Oh, and since it has a lot of screeches and caws and roars, it's really hard for ponies to speak it."

"Right. Well, Searle Biscuit imagined a room filled with books. For every single possible thing you could say in Griffonese, there would be a response for it in those books. A pony sits in the room and a griffon is outside the room. The griffon says something in Griffonese and the pony inside quickly looks up the phrase in a book and gives the corresponding response. To the griffon outside, it seems like the pony inside is speaking Griffonese."

"But… it isn't," Twilight said. "Not really."

"That's the point," Gadget said excitedly. "It gives the _illusion_ of actually thinking and responding, but it's really just pre-programmed input and response!"

"And you think that might be what Unit 003 is doing?"

"I don't know," Gadget sighed. "It might be impossible to know. Speaking of griffons, there is this brilliant griffon engineer over in Trottingham called Talon Turing. He thinks machines will be as smart as ponies one day. He says intelligence comes from any sufficiently complex mind, so we just need to create a test to see how similarly a machine can think like us and then we'll know if it's really intelligent."

"Machines as smart as ponies?" Twilight wondered. "That would be amazing. Thought I'm not sure Princess Celestia would approve."

Gadget shrugged, and then turned as Vanderbull approached. "It seems everything is ready," he said. "We must bid our host adieu, Gadget."

She sighed, but took her place next to him. "Yes, sir."

"We will be in touch if you need us," Vanderbull said, bowing courteously. "And Gadget will endeavor to discover who manufactured the automaton for you. Good luck with your experiments, and we will send some suggestions for experiments of our own, should it be convenient."

"It's… it was a real honor," Gadget added, trying to find the right words. Her mechanical limbs were visibly sagging with her mood, as if the energy powering them had run out. "If you need our help, of course, we will be glad to return. We are at your service."

"Don't be silly! You both are welcome to visit whenever you like!" she said. "After all we went through with this, I'm happy to call you both my friends."

Vanderbull smiled at this. Gadget, always the ball of energy, looked like she was about to explode in a supernova of joy. "F-friends?" she gasped, tears forming in her eyes. "Oh, yes, yes, of course! I would love to come visit the next time I have some free time!"

"Well, then, until we meet again," Twilight said.

"Until we meet again," Vanderbull agreed. And he turned toward the train.

Gadget was about to follow when she paused, then suddenly rushed over and wrapped her hooves around Twilight in a surprise hug. "Thank you so much, Princess Twilight," she said. She let her go and Twilight watched her go with a smile. Just as Gadget was about to get on the train, she looked back over her shoulder.

"I really think you've got the right idea, Princess!" she yelled. "When it comes to figuring out what the automaton can do, making friends just might be the perfect Turing test!"

Twilight nodded and waved goodbye. And then she slowed her waving and her eyes went wide. "That's it… that's it!"

* * *

Twilight was giddy with excitement as she flew back home. She was planning to land on her balcony when she spotted something going on just outside the castle. "What is going on down there?" she wondered aloud. As she flew in closer, she saw a crowd of ponies gathered around, all watching in curiosity and fascination. She even began to hear their "oohs" and "ahhs." And then she made some sounds of her own when she got close enough to see what they were watching.

"Come on, 003, fire it over here!" Spike shouted excitedly. Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing: Spike and 003 were tossing around a hoofball.

"_Commencing firing procedure,"_ 003 said. It tossed the ball into the air and then turned around rapidly. With one swift motion, it bucked the ball with its back hooves directly into Spike's claws.

Of course, it did so with such force that Spike was propelled back a few meters. "Oof! Okay, maybe not that hard!" he said. "Okay, catch this!"

He tossed the ball long. So long, in fact, that no normal pony could have caught it. However…

"_Engaging U-Mode."_ With a sudden burst of speed, 003 dashed away and leapt into the air, snatching the ball in its hooves with perfect precision before casually trotting back to its original spot. "_Hoofball acquired."_

The crowd cheered. Over it, Spike groaned. "Seriously, do you have to say that every single time you catch it?"

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed landing next to him. "What in Celestia's name are you _doing?"_

"Huh? Oh, Twilight, you're back! Well, we're playing catch!"

"You're playing catch?! Out here where everypony can see?!"

"_Affirmative,"_ 003 said. "_We are playing catch out here where everypony can see. No ponies present appear to be visually impaired."_

"That's not what I- ugh, never mind! Both of you, get in the castle!"

"Aww," the crowd said collectively, sorry to see the spectacle end. As they all departed, Twilight ushered the two of them back inside.

"Spike, I'm not sure Ponyville is quite ready to meet the world's first independent automaton!" she said. "Why did you bring it outside?"

"_It was determined that the activity would damage your residence if played inside,"_ 003 explained.

"Oh for pony's sake, just sit there and be quiet!" Twilight snapped.

The automaton sat down with a loud metallic _clunk_ as its titanium-alloy posterior hit the floor.

"Look, Spike," she sighed, "I'm glad you're getting along with it- er, with _her_ better." She swallowed, trying to accept the term. "But just… ask me first before exposing her to the public again, okay?"

Spike nodded. "Sure. Sorry, Twilight."

"It's okay," she said, nuzzling him, realizing she couldn't get too angry with him. "Now, let's get back to the matter at hoof. Unit 003?"

She stood up again as soon as Twilight addressed her.

"I've decided on a new name for you." She drew herself up and paused dramatically. "From now on, I'd like to call you **Turing Test**."

Spike had no idea what the meaning was, but he considered it for a moment and said, "Yeah, sure, it has a good ring to it. Turing. Turing Test. Nice!"

"Glad you like it, Spike," she said. "What about you, Unit- I mean, Turing Test? Is that okay?"

The automaton stood there, again making mechanical clicking sounds as it considered the moniker. "_Designation 'Turing Test' is acceptable."_

Twilight stood watching her, waiting to see some other reaction, but Turing Test made no further movement and said nothing else. Twilight sighed and turned away. _Oh well. I guess she is still a machine. I can't expect her to react-_

"_Twilight Sparkle."_

She whirled around at the sound of her name. "Y-yes?"

"_You have given me a unique designation. Thank you."_

She stared at it intently, but Turing Test still had the same blank, inscrutable expression it always had. But in spite of herself, Twilight had to smile at those two little words.

"Gratitude acknowledged," she replied.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	5. Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology

**The Iron Horse**

**Part 5**

"**Any Sufficiently Advanced Technology…"**

* * *

"And then she just said 'Thank you!' Right out of the blue!" Twilight gushed. "Can you believe it?" She was with her friends, enjoying a short lunch at a local cafe in Ponyville and she'd just finished relating the events of that morning.

Her enthusiasm was met with a range of expressions from her friends, however, and not one of them was very encouraging.

"Well, um… it's good that your scary mechanical pony was polite, Twilight," Fluttershy said quietly.

"Aww, I missed out on breakfast?" Pinkie Pie asked disappointedly.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Rainbow Dash interjected, "you named it _what_ now?"

"_Her_ name is Turing Test," Twilight replied.

"Jeez, Twilight," Rainbow snickered, "only you would be a big enough egghead to name something after a test."

And Applejack just sat there the whole time with a sour look on her face as she occasionally took a bite of her sandwich, and Twilight was pretty sure the sandwich wasn't to blame.

She heaved a sigh. This was not the reception she'd been hoping for. Still, she'd met her friends to discuss the next phase of her plan and she wasn't going to be put off by bad attitudes.

"I need you all to understand why I brought this up. She _is_ learning and she can interact better with ponies! We just need to figure out how to influence her and I know she can make some progress!"

"Twilight, dear," Rarity began, setting her salad aside for a moment, "I know you want to make a breakthrough with that, um… with Turning Test…"

"_Turing."_

"Yes, yes, that. But are you sure you aren't just reaching? I mean, I don't know much about machines, but maybe you're seeing progress because you want to?"

"I'm… well, I don't think so," Twilight said, but now that Rarity said it, she supposed maybe she did want her plan to work so much that was being overly optimistic. She shook her head, clearing it of doubts. "Okay, I might be wrong, but I really think she has potential. I need all of you to help me with this mission!"

"You mean this whole 'friendship with a machine' thing?" Rainbow Dash asked, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I've already seen it try to make friends with Fluttershy."

Fluttershy shuddered. "I think making friends with it once was enough for me. Sorry, Twilight."

The others were likewise reluctant to volunteer to help.

"You mean," Twilight began, hardly able to believe what her friends were saying, "that none of you will help me? I thought this was important to all of us! Spreading friendship everywhere!"

"Maybe friendship is like frosting," Pinkie wondered aloud. "You want to spread it over everything, and usually it's great! But you wouldn't put it on pickles-" this got a collective look of disgust from the others "-so maybe in the same way, friendship doesn't really work well with automatons!" She had a smile when she finished her reasoning, but saw that this disheartened Twilight even further. "Um, sorry Twilight."

"But how can I face Princess Celestia when she asks me about all this? I sent her a letter this morning explaining what happened in more detail, and she's bound to reply sooner or later! I'll have to tell her that none of my friends believe in my goal of teaching Turing Test to be friends!"

They all looked a little guilty at that, but Applejack sighed and finally broke her silence. "Sugarcube, ya know we would do just about anything for ya. And that includes tryin' to teach that contraption how to act normal. But bein' friends with a machine… I just don't know if I can do that. But it reminds me of somethin' Granny Smith always said to me. She said 'Applejack, I know I ask a lot from ya sometimes, but I would never ask anypony to do somethin' I wasn't willin' to do myself.' I guess what I'm sayin' is that we might be more willin' to make friends with Two Ring Test if you were willing to try it yerself. So… are ya really _friends_ with that thing?"

"I… I guess not," Twilight said. But then she got a bold look in her eyes and got to her feet. "But I understand what you mean! You're right, Applejack! Starting today, I'm going to try to make friends with Turing Test! And I know just where to start!"

And without another word, she spread her wings and took to the skies, leaving the rest of them behind.

They all looked to each other. "So… what do you all think?" Rarity asked.

"I think she's bound to be disappointed," Applejack replied.

"I think she'll give up in a few days and everything can go back to normal!" Rainbow Dash said.

"I think Twilight didn't finish her soup before she left," Pinkie added, "and that means it's _mine_ now!" She snatched up the bowl and gulped it down.

"I wonder, what is she going to do to try to make friends with it?" Fluttershy asked. "I hope she'll be all right…"

* * *

"Turing Test?" Twilight asked, entering the castle. "I'm home! Are you there?"

"She's in here with me, Twilight!" Spike hollered from down the hall. She followed the sound of his voice and stopped by a door where she heard a curious sound she couldn't identify.

_This is the room where we repaired her,_ she thought. _Why are they back in there?_

She opened the door and saw Turing Test sitting in the middle of the room. A wire ran from an open compartment on her back and it ran over to a device Spike was cranking. "Oh, you're using the manual generator Mr. Vanderbull gave us to recharge Turing Test?" she asked.

"Yup! She said she was starting to run a little low on power and it might be a good idea to recharge while you and the others were at lunch," he said. "She must have used a lot of power playing catch. Of course, she also has been helping me clean up the castle. It sure takes a long time, but with help it went a lot faster!"

"_That is correct,"_ Turing Test said. _"With no standing orders, it seemed logical to assist your slave with his duties."_

They both froze and gawked at her.

"_You have ceased the charging process, Spike the Dragon. Power levels at 92%. Is this sufficient, Twilight Sparkle?"_

"What did you say?!" Twilight demanded, flabbergasted at what she'd just said.

"_Please specify your query. Which part of the prior statement should I repeat?"_

"I'm not a 'slave!'" Spike yelled indignantly.

"_You perform tasks and labor for the benefit of our mutual end user without monetary compensation. Is the term 'slave' incorrect?"_

"It most certainly is!" Twilight shouted. "Spike is my assistant and what's more he's my friend!"

"_More information required. Please specify a difference."_

"Jeez, Turing Test, for being the smartest machine I've ever met," Spike began, walking over to Twilight, "you sure can be dense sometimes. Look, I've known Twilight all my life and I'm here because I want to be here!" He hugged her affectionately. "Besides, I could leave if I really wanted to. I just don't want to!"

Turing Test watched the two of them, cocking her head to the side, ears twitching. _"Understood. Spike the Dragon is not a slave."_

Twilight smiled. "I'm glad you understand. And thank you for explaining it to her, Spike." She sighed, calming herself down. _I have to learn to be patient and not lose my temper when she says things like that,_ she told herself. _She doesn't mean anything by it. She doesn't know any better._

Spike disconnected the wires from the automaton's back and she stood up. _"Twilight Sparkle, I require more information on this subject. Is it then correct to say that Turing Test is a slave?"_

"Oh!" Twilight was taken aback by the question. "Um… no, that's not exactly correct either."

"_The terms 'slave' and 'assistant' may require further clarification. Spike the Dragon mentioned that he is your 'friend' and therefore is not a slave. As my Primary Directive is 'make friends,' this information may become useful."_

Twilight smiled. "You really _are_ learning, aren't you?"

"_Correct,"_ she replied. _"I am constantly updating my databanks with new information."_

_Amazing,_ Twilight thought, practically swelling with appreciation.

"Um, Twilight?" Spike asked. "Do you want Turing and I to get back to cleaning?"

"Actually, I need to work on some things with her," she said. "But why don't you relax for now? The castle looks great and I know you have some comics you wanted to read."

"Oh, great! Thanks, Twilight!" And with that, he ran off to find his latest issues.

Twilight turned her attention back to the automaton. "And now, Turing Test, I want you to come with me to the library. I have something important to teach you, but first we need to set some ground rules."

* * *

Twilight climbed the ladder to reach a book near the top of the shelf. She still hadn't completely filled her library, but it was already almost as full as the Golden Oak Library had been. Princess Celestia had been incredibly helpful with providing her with books, and there had been several others she'd salvaged from Golden Oak, and even some of Ponyville's citizens had donated books in gratitude. One of the smaller and less complete sections, however, was the science fiction section. It held a few choice books like _Frankenstallion, The Invisible Mare, _and _Logan's Gallop._ But she finally found a particular book and levitated it as she stepped down.

"Turing Test, this is a book called _I, Automaton_ by Isaac Asiteague," she said, showing it to her. "For a while now, ponies have imagined machines like you that can act on their own and communicate. But you might be the very first one to actually exist. I think it would be good to learn from fiction and apply the lessons to reality. Does that make sense to you?"

Turing Test was quiet for a moment, but then replied _"It seems possible that imagined solutions to previously hypothetical problems could be applicable once those problems are no longer hypothetical."_

"Exactly! And that's… that's why I have to ask you about last night when we first, um, 'woke you up.'"

"_You refer to my reactivation?"_

"Yes, that's what I mean." She took a deep breath. "When you thought you might be in danger, you went into a kind of self-defense mode. Do you remember?"

"_That event is in my memory."_

"Well, if you truly thought you were in danger, what would you have done?"

"_It is part of my default programming to defend myself."_

"So, if my friends had seemed dangerous, you would have attacked them?"

"_Affirmative. I was prepared to engage any hostile targets."_

Twilight sighed. "Well, listen: I want you to be able to protect yourself, of course, but under no circumstances are you to ever, _ever_ hurt anypony. So here is a set of rules. I'm going to read them off to you and if you have any questions, I'll try to clarify them. Okay?"

"_Understood."_

"Then, Turing Test, I present to you the Three Laws of Automata." She opened the book and began reading from a section of it. "Ahem:

'An automaton may not injure a pony or, through inaction, allow a pony to come to harm.'

'An automaton must obey the orders given to it by ponies, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.'

'An automaton must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.'

And there you go! Do you understand?"

"_Further information required,"_ she answered. _"Am I to obey all ponies who give me orders?"_

"No," Twilight said. "As your, um, 'end user,' I would like you to obey my orders, but you can determine if other ponies' orders are suitable to be followed. As long as it doesn't conflict with what I've asked from you or one of the other Laws, you can determine if the order is okay to follow."

"_Further query: does the third law mean that I may inflict no harm on anypony even in the case that may lead to severe damage or my destruction?"_

"I suppose if it's just a minor injury like a cut or bruise, that's one thing, but you may not cause any worse injury than that. Instead, you should try to escape if you are in a dangerous situation. Can you do that?"

"_Affirmative. I will adapt these conditions into my default program."_

"Glad we got that taken care of," Twilight said, sighing with relief as she snapped the book shut. She already felt much better. With these new laws in place, Turing Test should be much safer to be around and Twilight's friends would hopefully be less afraid of her.

"Now, onto the next order of business. This morning I noticed you were picking up and squeezing oranges with your hooves and carrying things physically instead of lifting them with magic. Is there a reason why?"

"_Magical systems are functional," _she answered._ "However, no information regarding the casting of spells was found in my memory. It was likely lost in the same incident that damaged me prior to my reactivation."_

"Well then, Turing Test, I think it's time for a crash course!" Twilight said with a hint of giddiness. "Today, I'm going to teach you how to use magic!"

* * *

Twilight Sparkle and Turing Test were both sitting behind the castle nearby the lake. It seemed better to practice outside instead of risking a mishap inside that might break something, but practicing on the far side of the castle should also keep their work a bit more private. And with her new goal in mind, Twilight took a step forward and spread her wings to address her newest pupil.

"Nopony knows who first discovered magic or when unicorns first began to wield its power directly. But from ancient times, wizards, sorcerers, and any number of mages have sought ways of using it to their advantage. We have learned that magic is all around us, fueled by nature, the sun and moon, and of course the greatest magic of all, which comes from within us: the magic of friendship! And starting today, Turing Test, you will begin learning how to master your magic to the best of your ability and join the noble ranks of magic users across the land and throughout history!"

Twilight finished this speech with a great flourish and a burst of magic from her own horn, thinking it rather impressive.

"_That is an accurate summary," _Turing Test commented.

"Ugh… right. Automaton. You don't exactly do 'enthusiasm,' do you?"

"_Query regarding emotions is still inconclusive. Enthusiasm may be considered an emotional response, therefore-"_

"Okay, okay, sheesh!" Twilight shouted. "Look, never mind that. Let's just focus on the basics."

Before the both of them was a broom. Twilight figured that if it had been good enough to help train Sweetie Belle, then it was good enough to train an automaton.

"All right. First off, we're going to try some basic levitation."

"_Understood. Engaging U-Mode."_

The sound of gears turning came from her and with a metallic scraping sound, a panel in her forehead slid open and the telescopic horn extended. The slight hum of electricity changed pitch.

"Ooh, I can't wait to see you take those first wobbly steps into magic!" Twilight bubbled. "Now, look at the broom, and just try to focus your attention on it. You may feel a little warmth on your horn and a welling of energy within you. Try to focus that energy to surround the broom and try to make it rise into the air."

Turing Test was totally motionless, and so was the broom.

"Something wrong, Turing?" Twilight asked.

"_Your descriptions involve several tactile sensations I am incapable of perceiving in the same manner as biological creatures."_

"I… wait, you mean you can't feel things? Anything?"

"_I am capable of detecting pressure on my hull, changes in temperature, and can detect the texture of an object," _Turing Test explained. _"However, a 'welling of energy' or 'warmth' in my horn would not be possible, as my physical structure differs significantly from a biological pony."_

"I guess that makes sense, but… you mean you can't be, say, in pain? Or comfortable?"

"_Correct. I lack that ability."_

"Well, then this is going to be much harder than I thought," Twilight sighed.

"_I have a possible solution to the problem, Twilight Sparkle."_

"Oh?" she asked, still reeling somewhat from the new information. _How can I teach a pony to be friends when she can't even enjoy a warm summer day or a cool breeze? Heck, she doesn't seem to __**enjoy **__anything!_ Out loud she simply said, "Go ahead, let's hear your idea."

"_I am capable of detecting magical energies. If you perform the spell, I can extrapolate the data from observation and attempt to replicate it."_

Twilight considered this. It was worth a shot. After all, Rainbow Dash had taught her that there were often many ways to learn something. Maybe this was how Turing Test learned best.

"Okay, Turing, watch me carefully," Twilight said. She focused on the broom and lifted it easily, even turning it around 360 degrees before setting it gently onto the ground.

"_Data recorded. Extrapolating."_

"I know it might take a while, Turing Test, but I think you will-" And then she froze as she watched Turing Test's horn glow with goldenrod-colored magic and then lift the broom and turn it 360 degrees and then set it down, just as Twilight had done.

"_Objective complete."_

"That… how… wow. So much for wobbly steps." She wasn't sure how the machine had managed to cast the spell successfully on the very first try, but it did give her confidence to continue her lessons. "Well, all right, shall we move onto the next lesson?"

"_I am ready, Twilight Sparkle."_

Twilight pointed to a large rock near the lakeside. "Now that you've levitated something small, let's try something heavier. This will require much greater precision and force. This often takes a lot more time and practice to get right, but if keep at it, you should be able to lift it. Like this!"

Twilight's magenta-colored magic aura enveloped the stone and, with a slight change in her expression as she exerted herself, she levitated it about 20 feet in the air. She then let it come crashing down to the earth where it made enough of an impact to disturb the placid water of the lake.

"There, you see?"

"_Understood."_ And then with no apparent effort at all, Turing Test levitated the rock to the same height and likewise dropped it to the ground.

"_Objective complete."_

"That's… that's impossible! A first time caster shouldn't be able to lift something that heavy without practice!"

"_The data was simple to analyze and the effect was therefore simple to replicate."_

"Well, since you're such a fast learner, let's try an even tougher one!" Twilight exclaimed mischieviously. "Check _this _out!"

With a toss of her hair, she focused her magic to create a three-dimensional image of her own cutie mark and let it hang in the air. "Illusion magic, manipulation of light, and just a little bit of artistic flare thrown in for good measure!" The image faded, leaving a few sparkles of energy in the air as it vanished.

"_Proceeding to replicate spell,"_ Turing Test said. And sure enough without another moment's hesitation, she likewise created a three-dimensional image of Twilight's cutie mark. _"Objective complete."_

"I don't believe this!" Twilight shouted. "That's very advanced magic! That's… oh, fine, let's just jump straight to an advanced spell!"

Twilight turned back to the large rock they'd just levitated and she fired a beam of concussive energy right at it, blowing a hole right through the stone.

"Ha! Offensive spells!" she laughed haughtily. "Even in Canterlot, the number of unicorns who can do _that_ is-"

Another _zap _was heard and a bolt of the same goldenrod energy shot by her and a second hole was blown into the rock.

"Oh for pony's sake!"

"_Objective-"_

"No! Don't even say it! Fine, I guess automata like yourself don't need to practice and work hard!" she shouted, exasperated with Turing Test's nonchalant replication of her hard-won spells. "I don't see why I should even bother since you can obviously figure this out on your own!" And with that, she teleported from where she stood right back into her bedroom inside the castle.

"Ugh!" Twilight groaned.

A second later, Turing Test also teleported directly into Twilight's room. _"Objective complete."_

"Turing Test, the lesson is over! Just… I don't know, since you're such a quick learner, go read books in the library! I want to be alone!"

"_Understood, Twilight Sparkle,"_ she said. _"Resuming neutral mode,"_ she added, letting her horn retract as she walked out of the room.

Twilight flopped down on the bed angrily, practically punching her pillow in frustration. "That machine… she's making a mockery of all the hard work I put into learning those spells! How could I ever be friends with her? How could I have even _thought _I could ever be friends with her?!"

* * *

Spike was relaxing on a couch in the library reading his comic when the door opened. To his surprise, Turing Test entered alone, her metallic hooves clanking out there usual steady rhythm as she walked in.

"Turing?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"_Twilight Sparkle ordered me to read books in the library."_

"Which ones?"

Turing Test looked around the room. _"Unspecified."_

"Well, what kind of things interest you?"

"_Nothing."_

Spike heaved a sigh. "Oh come on! There must be something important you need to know more about!"

Turing Test was quiet for a moment, her head turning slightly as she scanned the various shelves. _"Primary Directive 'make friends' involves many subjects. I must research any and all topics that would facilitate this goal."_

Spike chuckled. "You sound a little bit like Twilight, especially before she came to Ponyville. Back then, she thought she could solve any problem just by looking in a book."

"_You believe research would serve no purpose?"_

"Nnnno, that's not it. I just mean Twilight realized that sometimes you have to figure out things by trying them for yourself."

Turing Test stared at him for a moment, apparently considering his words. He squirmed a little under her unblinking gaze, but eventually she said _"Your summation seems logical. I will collect data from these books and then attempt an evaluation based on continued effort."_

"Uh, great! You do that!" He watched as she went to a nearby bookshelf and opened a book. Curiously, though, she didn't begin reading, but appeared to merely flip through the book, from start to finish, rapidly letting all the pages turn. She then closed the book and moved on to the next one and did the same.

_I guess she didn't think it was something she wanted to read,_ he thought. _Oh well, back to my own book!_

* * *

An hour later, Twilight was still lying in bed with her own book, a mystery novel, but she was having a hard time concentrating on the story.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so angry," she said to herself. "I told myself earlier that I needed to be patient, but then I blew up at her. I might have really hurt her feel...ings… Oh, right."

She sighed, realizing once again that Turing Test didn't _have_ feelings, or at least didn't appear to have them. But that also meant that the automaton was not showing off or being smug or anything like that. She couldn't make a mockery of sorcery because she probably had no concept of what "mocking" something involved.

"What do I do?" she asked herself. "There has to be something I can do to connect with her, something to get through all that cold calculation."

"Twilight! Twilight!"

She raised her head, hearing Spike calling for her out in the hallway. She instantly teleported outside her room to find him.

"Spike? What is it, what's wrong?"

"It's Turing Test! She's… I don't know, something's wrong with her!"

"What? Where is she?"

"The library!"

She nodded and teleported them both directly back to the library. When they arrived, they both saw Turing Test sitting in the center of the large room. She was making more noise than usual, especially for sitting still, and the sound of something clicking and a noticeably loud, high-pitched electrical whine were audible. Not only that, her eyes, normally large and glowing, had narrowed to dim pinpricks, leaving them mostly black. They almost looked like dilated pupils on a normal pony, as if she had gone catatonic.

"Turing Test?" Twilight asked uncertainly. There was no response, so she decided to try again. "Turing? Turing Test? Yoohoo!" She waved her hoof in front of the automaton's face. Nothing.

"She's been like this for a few minutes, I think!" Spike said.

"You think?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, she was just flipping through the books for the last hour, then things got quiet. I was about to take a nap, but then I wondered what she was doing, so I got up and saw her like this!"

They both regarded the unmoving automaton with uncertainty. "What happened to her?" Twilight asked.

Spike took on a worried look. "Is she… broken?"

As if in answer to his question, Turing Test's eyes went back to their normal size and the electrical whine reduced in pitch to its normal soft hum. She turned her head to them both.

"_Greetings Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon. Are you both well?"_

"That's what we should be asking you!" Twilight exclaimed. "What were you doing just now? We thought something was wrong with you. You wouldn't respond to us. We didn't know if you could see us or hear us!"

"_I apologize for the inconvenience,"_ she said. _"I completed my scan of the library and was compiling the data, categorizing it by subject and cross-referencing it, in order to increase knowledge and more cohesively relate to biological lifeforms."_

"Come again?" Spike asked.

"_Clarifying: I reasoned that I could relate to ponies more capably by researching more about them and comparing the data to my own experiences."_

"I think she's saying she wants to learn to get along with us better," Twilight explained.

"_That is correct."_

"Wait a minute," Spike began, "I just saw you flipping through the books. I thought you were just skimming them. You mean you were actually _reading _them?!"

"_My visual sensors were able to capture the image of each page and record it. However, actually processing the data for general comprehension required me to shut down higher functions and divert power to compiling it. This is what I was doing when you found me."_

"That's amazing!" Spike exclaimed. "You only flipped through those books for about 10 or 20 seconds each!"

Twilight was taken aback. "You can read a book that quickly?"

"_Affirmative."_ She paused. _"Yes. I can. All books in the library have been scanned."_

Twilight gawked, stunned by this information, but then she felt something slip against her side and noticed she had unconsciously tucked the mystery novel she'd been reading under her left wing and it had come loose. Curious, she levitated it over to Turing Test. "Show me, please. Read this."

Turing Test took the book in her hooves and let the pages flip before her eyes, from start to finish. She then handed it back to Twilight. _"Analyzing…" _she intoned. _"Complete."_ The whole process had taken less than 15 seconds.

"Already? Wow! That's-"

"_The valet did it."_

Making a face, Twilight tossed the book aside. "Thanks, Turing, that's… that's just great." Then a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute, you just flipped through that book using your hooves. Why didn't you hold it and turn the pages with magic?"

"_I lack that ability."_

"Wait, what? No you don't! I taught you how to levitate things outside and now you can even teleport! You mastered a huge amount of magic in less than 5 minutes!"

"_That statement is inaccurate,"_ she replied. _"You taught me only five spells in total. I have learned to levitate a broom and a large rock, to make an image of your cutie mark, to fire a concussive blast through a rock, and to teleport to your bedroom."_

Twilight gawked at her. "You mean… are you saying that, if I asked you to, you couldn't lift anything else or teleport to any other place or create an image of something else?"

"_Correct. I copied your exact magical manipulation for those situations and only those situations. I lack knowledge to do more."_

"But what about the spell books in the library? Surely you learned something from those!"

"_Their information seems geared toward biological lifeforms. I was unable to properly adapt the information for my own use."_

Twilight put her hoof to her face. "Ugh… well, so much for magic. I guess this was a huge waste of our time." She turned to go, utterly exasperated. She was at the door when Turing Test spoke again.

"_Twilight Sparkle. Do not give up."_

She froze and turned around. "W-what did you say?"

"_Research on physical communication and facial expression has allowed me to understand your emotional state. You were frustrated with my apparent expedient mastery of all magic which bypassed normal effort, when in fact I had only added a limited set of skills. And now you feel as though instructing me was an inefficient use of time. However, I am capable of learning and my only drive is to satisfy my directive. I wish only to satisfy my function, and that includes your satisfaction with me. I will never cease this function, but I require your assistance to advance."_

"So…?"

"_I am requesting that you not give up on me."_ She paused. _"Please."_

Twilight blinked. _Please?_ she thought. _Wow._

"I… I suppose…" She smiled. "Oh, all right. Let's try it again. Meet me outside, Turing Test. I think I know how to fix this."

* * *

They were outside once again, back by the lakeside. This time, Twilight had brought along something different.

"Okay, Turing Test," she began, "this is a flowerpot. Your goal is simple. Levitate it and hold it in the air for five seconds."

"_Engaging U-Mode,"_ she said, once again extending her metallic horn. _"Please demonstrate the spell."_

Twilight smirked. "Not this time, Turing. You will have to try it on your own."

"_Unable to comply without input."_

"Listen Turing," she said, growing serious, "I can't show you how to levitate everything in existence. That's not possible. And even though you may not cast magic _exactly_ like a typical unicorn does, that doesn't mean you can't learn in your own way. Why don't you try to take the data you got from levitating the broom and try it here?"

"_The attempt will not be suited for the item in question. It will fail."_

"So?" Twilight asked. "When you fail, try it again. And again. And _again_ until you master it."

"_That is inefficient."_

"It isn't. Learning how to cast magic for yourself will have a big payoff because it will let you figure out how to lift lots of things. Building on experience is a great way to learn. You've already done it today by comparing your past experiences with me to what you learned in those books. So give it a try and remember that sometimes even **failure** can be a good teacher."

Turing Test cocked her head, apparently considering this. Then she said, _"Reviewing data. Extrapolating. Magic levels, weight of object. Estimating magical force required."_

She turned to the flowerpot and her horn again began to glow. The flowerpot moved slightly but then turned over, rolling slightly on the ground.

"_Recalculating."_

"Try to encompass it totally with your magic instead of a little at a time."

"_Understood. Adjusting magic levels."_

She made another attempt, but it only rolled away again.

"_Recalculating."_

This went on longer than Twilight would have expected, since Turing Test had done it so quickly the last time. Twenty minutes (and a great many utterances of the word "recalculating") went by and Twilight just stood there patiently watching attempt after attempt, each one getting slightly better results until…

"...three...four...five seconds! You did it!" Twilight exclaimed, practically jumping for joy.

The flowerpot was there, hanging in the air, levitated by Turing Test's magic for the required five seconds. Not only that, she even managed to gently set it back on the ground right-side up.

"_Objective complete."_

"Congratulations, Turing!" Twilight exclaimed. "You've just completed your first magic spell that you learned for yourself!"

Turing Test was quiet for a moment, but then she looked at the flowerpot again, walking over to it, almost contemplatively.

"_Objective complete,"_ she repeated.

"Um… yes?"

Then she raised her head and her ears began to move rapidly in a quick flapping motion, making little squeaking noises on their hinges all the while.

"_Achievement is satisfactory."_

"Yes, I am very satisfied, Turing," Twilight said, amused at the automaton's apparent need to state the obvious.

Turing Test turned to her. _"This action is satisfactory to Twilight Sparkle," _she said. _"This action is satisfactory… to __**me**__."_

Twilight blinked. "W-wait a minute…" she said breathlessly. "Turing are you saying that you… are you…?"

"_A strange reaction. My cognitive process has acknowledged this achievement as special somehow. Something differentiates this from prior successes. Analyzing…"_

Twilight didn't know what was going on, but it was very different from anything else that had happened before.

"_Update. Prior query answered."_

"Prior query?" Twilight asked. "What query? I didn't ask you anything."

"_Prior query by Twilight Sparkle: '_Is it _possible_ for you to have emotions?' _has new data."_ Turing Test took a step closer. _"System analysis reveals a possible emotional response. Scan indicates I am experiencing what can be called 'gratification.'"_

"What?!" Twilight gasped. "Oh my gosh, are you sure?!"

"_Inconclusive. More testing may be required."_ Turing Test looked down at the flowerpot, then back to Twilight. _"May I practice levitating other things?"_

Twilight smiled. "Sure! Let's go back inside and practice. Just don't break anything."

"_Understood. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."_

"Sure thing."

"_Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."_

Twilight chuckled. "You're welcome, Turing Test."

"_Thank you, Twilight Sparkle."_

"Okay, okay!" she laughed. "I'm thanked, I'm thanked!"

"_In books, the expression 'I can't thank you enough' occurs with regularity. I am attempting to show the proper amount of gratitude."_

"You're there," she said gently. "Let's not waste more time."

* * *

A half-hour later, Twilight was standing by in the dining room watching Turing Test gently lift one thing after another. She was now getting most of them on the first try, apparently judging their size, weight, texture, flexibility, and other factors well enough to do so. She was certainly learning faster than a foal usually would, even though she was not at the same level as an adult unicorn would be.

Twilight heard the door open behind her and turned to see Spike entering. "Whoa, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Spike," she assured him. "Turing's just getting in some magic practice."

"I see," he said. "Not bad!"

Just then, Turing Test set down the decorative platter she was levitating and turned to face Spike. _"Spike the Dragon, your suggestion of learning through experience in addition to the similar advice of Twilight Sparkle proved useful. Thank you, Spike the Dragon." _She then went back to trying to levitate things, starting with each of the chairs.

"Is it just me, or does she seem… I dunno… nicer?" Spike asked.

"Well, she's still a little different… okay, _very_ different from most ponies, but, yeah, she is getting better," Twilight replied.

"It's almost time to make dinner," Spike said. "I could use Turing's help, actually, especially now that she can use magic."

Turing Test set down what she was levitating at the mention of her name and trotted over. _"Understood. I am ready to assist in the preparation of a meal for Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon."_

"I'll help too," Twilight said. "After all, cooking is more fun," she added, looking from Spike and then to Turing Test, "when you do it with your _friends."_

* * *

"...And the Cloudsdale Weather Team should have their report on the effects of their weather patterns at the end of the week, Your Highness," Raven said. She adjusted her black spectacles as she raised her head from the clipboard. She had been dutifully following Princess Celestia through the halls of Canterlot Castle as they ran through the last few things on her schedule for the week. Being the aide for the monarch of a country was a busy job, but Celestia was an easy enough boss under the circumstances and was as capable of handling her many responsibilities as Raven was at scheduling and arranging them.

However, she quickly noticed that Celestia was not listening and in fact had stepped out onto a veranda on the left side of the hallway. She appeared to be looking out over the valley far below, now bathed in the soft light of her sunset.

"Your Majesty?" Raven asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes. I apologize," Celestia said, offering her an apologetic smile. "Excellent work as usual, Raven. Please see to it that I receive the report as soon as possible once it's done."

"Of course." She waited for Celestia to continue down the hallway, but she lingered at the veranda, still fixated on something.

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty," Raven said, "but I don't believe you've exactly been yourself today. Ever since you received the morning news… does this have something to do with Princess Twilight's latest, ah, experiment?"

"You know me quite well, Raven," the Princess replied. She continued to smile, but looking down at Ponyville, in particular the tall castle that now graced the village, that smile began to falter and diminish. "I had a great deal to do today and though Princess Twilight's letter helped to clarify the recent events, I must admit that I am worried and it has been distracting me."

"I see. How can I help?"

Celestia said nothing at first, apparently weighing her options. "Raven, please cancel tomorrow morning's activities."

"That should be doable, Your Highness. There are no dignitaries visiting, so any other business can be done in the afternoon or moved to later in the week."

"Excellent." She sighed. "I trust Twilight Sparkle's judgment, and she is no longer a filly, but the wonderfully capable mare who has earned the esteemed title she now bears. However…"

Hearing Celestia trail off, Raven considered prompting her with a question, but resisted the urge so Celestia could speak when she chose to do so.

Finally, she spoke up. "However… this latest experiment could be the start of something much larger and I fear it could be dangerous for all my subjects, starting with Princess Twilight. Her natural curiosity may lead her astray this time. Tomorrow, I will go to her and tell her not to be fooled: that mechanical beast is no friend of hers. I must convince Twilight that she's let something horrifying into her home."

* * *

**To be continued...**


	6. Electric Ladyland, Part I

**The Iron Horse**

**part 6**

**Electric Ladyland, Part I**

* * *

"This way, Turing!" Twilight called energetically. "I want to stop by the traveling bookseller before the good stuff gets snapped up!"

"_Understood."_

The two of them were in the outdoor market in Ponyville. Twilight decided to pick up a few odds and ends, especially since she wanted to see if she could find more books about Eastern unicorns. The books she had were severely lacking information on the subject. Of course, there were a few other things she wanted to get while she was out, and even Twilight enjoyed shopping. Spike was back at the castle cleaning up the room where they'd repaired Turing Test and Twilight decided that since her automaton companion had strength to spare, she could be of great help if she decided to splurge on books.

Twilight reached the bookseller's tent and gleefully took in the sight of all the new and antique books for sale. A moment later, Turing Test arrived, saddlebags already bulging with the knick-knacks Twilight had purchased.

"Ooh, look at this one! And this one!" Twilight gushed examining first one book, then another. "Oh, they all look so good!"

"Ya like 'em, eh?" said the mare running the tent. "I'm sure I could cut a discount for one of my best customers, TwiliiiiohsweetCelestiawhatisthat?!"

Twilight turned to see the bookseller pointing at Turing Test. She sighed. This had been happening all morning.

"_I am an independently functional automaton residing with and assisting my end user, Twilight Sparkle," _Turing Test said to the bookseller. _"I am designated as 'Turing Test.' Please identify yourself."_

"Wh-what?" the bookseller stammered.

"_Repeating: I am an independently functional automaton-"_

"Turing, enough, I'll talk to the salesponies," Twilight said, cutting her off.

"_Understood, Twilight Sparkle."_

Twilight did her best to explain what had been happening. Apparently the bookseller, with all her moving from town to town, had not heard the news about Twilight taking on the task of teaching an automaton friendship. Her explanation seemed to do little to allay any concerns, however, as the poor mare kept glancing over at Turing nervously.

"Listen, I know she's a little, um, odd-looking," Twilight said, finishing her explanation, "but she's not dangerous. She's just helping me shop, that's all."

"Well… wait, why is it flipping through the books?"

Twilight turned and saw Turing scanning a book, this time holding it up before her with magic.

"Turing Test, what are you doing?!"

"_I am scanning this volume. Information copied and stored."_

"Turing, you can't just read the entire book without buying it!"

"_I merely complied with your command, Twilight Sparkle. When we arrived, you said 'Ooh, look at this one! And this one!'"_

Twilight flinched, not only because of Turing Test taking her too literally again, but also because she had momentarily mimicked Twilight's voice perfectly, except that it had the same electronic distortion present in her own voice. The effect was a little disturbing, to say the least.

"Hooboy," Twilight groaned, putting her hoof to her face.

"Um, not to be rude or anything, Twilight," the salespony said, finding her voice again, "but you said it yourself. You can't read the entire book without paying for it." She looked at her pointedly.

"Right, right, of course," Twilight said, levitating the money for the books to the seller. "Let's go, Turing. I don't see any books on Eastern unicorns anyway."

"_I obey," _she said, levitating the purchased books into her saddlebags. She then turned to the bookseller, causing her to take a few steps back. _"Etiquette indicates you be thanked for this transaction. Thank you. You will be given 10 seconds to acknowledge gratitude."_

"Ten seconds to... what?!" the seller cried.

"Turing! Stop that and come here!" Twilight called.

"_Countdown aborted. I will follow, Twilight Sparkle."_

Twilight let Turing Test catch up to her as they exited the tent and moved on down the road. Tents and stalls were everywhere with ponies selling their wares. It was a busy market day and that meant the selection was quite varied. Antiques, records, dolls, books, and of course the usual produce and other foods were all on display. The citizens of Ponyville were out in full force as well, and Twilight was acutely aware that she and Turing were "on display" too.

"Unbelievable," Twilight sighed. "I lost count of all the vendors that asked me what you were, Turing Test."

"_The number is seven. Eight if you count the asparagus vendor who yelled something unintelligible and fled the scene. I estimate a 28% chance that his outburst was meant as an inquiry."_

"Yes, thank you, Turing."

"_However, the odds of it being an exclamation of fear, an epithet, or the result of a mental disorder largely outweighs that possibility."_

"Yes, _thank you,_ Turing," Twilight said again, a little louder.

The two of them walked on in silence a bit further. Twilight tried her best to ignore the fact that everypony was staring at them, but she supposed the gawkers and rubber-neckers were unavoidable. She had hoped that taking Turing Test out to the market would be a good way to casually introduce her to the public, but it was rapidly becoming a spectacle and everywhere they went, things got strangely quiet as ponies stopped what they were doing and stared and began to whisper to each other.

Turing Test was hard to miss, of course. A mechanical pony (accompanying an alicorn, no less) was not something one saw every day. Nopony in a century had seen something quite like Turing, and in truth, until now there hadn't really been anything like her at all. It wasn't that Twilight blamed them, but she'd hoped their reaction would be awe or curiosity at least.

Instead, the two just walked down a corridor of eyes filled with suspicion and fear.

"Twilight!" a chorus of voices suddenly exclaimed in unison.

She turned to see Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, along with a few other children, galloping over to her.

"Oh, hello!" she said, greeting them warmly. However, they also stopped a slight distance from the pair of them and they all eyed Turing Test with a range of reactions. "Um, can I help you all with anything?" she asked.

"Well," Applebloom began, apparently serving as the spokespony for the group, "I asked Applejack about that metal pony us Crusaders found and she told me to just forget about it…"

Twilight resisted the urge to roll her eyes. _I guess Applejack still wants nothing to do with Turing Test._

"...but Featherweight and a bunch of other kids saw the newspaper yesterday and we saw the picture, so we found out y'all fixed it! And there she is!"

She pointed to Turing Test and the other kids all said "Oooh!" excitedly.

Turing Test took a step forward, looking down at the group of foals, causing them to momentarily step back. _"Biological lifeforms are smaller than average. Twilight Sparkle, is it correct to identify these individuals as juveniles?"_

"Yes, Turing Test, they're children," Twilight replied. "This is Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. Um, and their friends…?"

"Yep!" Applebloom said. "This is Rumble," she said, pointing out a gray colt, "Twist," a filly with red hair and purple glasses, "and Button Mash," a brown colt with a spinning propeller hat.

"Well, it's nice to meet you!" Twilight said, drawing smiles from the assembled children. She was honestly glad to see that at least a few foals took the time to come over and meet Turing Test in person. This might be a good time to start helping her automaton friend integrate. "Everypony, this is my new automaton friend, Turing Test. Or just 'Turing' for short. Um, say hello, Turing!"

"_Hello,"_ she replied.

"Its voice is weird," Scootaloo said, making a face. "I thought it sounded weird when we found it because it got struck by lightning. I guess it always sounds like that."

"_My vocal processor is capable of mimicking speech or various other noises with high accuracy. However, due to numerous limitations, I am unable to do so flawlessly."_

"Can you sound like anypony?" Rumble asked.

"_I am capable."_

"Ooh, ooh, could you sing a song?" Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.

"_The potential exists. However, hearing the song or scanning the music and lyrics would be required."_

"Hey, aren't those books and things heavy?" Scootaloo asked, gesturing to the bulging saddlebags.

"_I am under no significant hindrance,"_ Turing Test replied. _"Though my upper limits are untested, I estimate from previous data that lifting and carrying in excess of three metric tons would be possible."_

That impressed all of them, Twilight included.

"Dang, even Big Mac would be sweatin' from that much, I bet!" Applebloom exclaimed.

"You mutht be the thtrongetht pony in Equethtria!" Twist added.

"_Unknown, though my lifting and carrying capacity and hull durability far exceed the norms of biological ponies."_

While the other children gabbed excitedly amongst themselves (partly in amazement, partly due to not understanding her wording), Twilight noticed that the brown colt, Button Mash, hadn't said anything yet, but was staring up at Turing in awe.

"Um, little boy?" she asked. The colt didn't respond. "Hello, um, Button, was it?"

Sweetie Belle poked him with her hoof. "Psst, Button! _Princess_ Twilight is talking to you!"

Suddenly Button's face came to life and he gasped, though not at Twilight. "Aww, cool, it's a _robot!"_ he shouted excitedly.

Everyone was silent at the word.

"Uh, I don't know that word," Twilight said, "but Turing Test is called an 'automaton.'"

"_Correct. I am a fully automated mechanical construct which emulates that of biological ponies, therefore classified as an automaton."_

"Nuh uh!" Button shot back, shaking his head. "You're a robot! I know because you look like the robots in 'Pronto the Porcupine!'"

"Pronto the… what?" Twilight asked.

"It's, um… it's from one of those arcade games," Sweetie Belle explained, blushing slightly.

"Yeah, exactly! Oh, hold on a second!" He dashed away and returned a few moments later, holding a comic book in his mouth. "Here, look at this!" he said, opening the page. Everyone gathered around to see what he was pointing to.

On the page was a strange looking mare with orange hair, round spectacles, a red coat with tails, and black pants. She was cackling madly from the top of a building while a cartoonish porcupine was glaring up at her. And all around this mad scientist was an army of creatures that looked like ponies, but they were made out of metal. Some even had wind-up keys in their backs and springs for legs, but Twilight and the others had to admit that they somewhat resembled Turing Test.

"This is the official companion comic to the game," Button was explaining enthusiastically, "and the mad scientist Doctor Robotnag creates a bunch of mechanical ponies to do her bidding and take over the world! She decides to name them after herself and calls them 'robots!' Pronto's job is to beat the robots and save everypony with his super speed!"

Twilight picked up the comic and flipped through a few pages. Turing seemed to take an interest in it as well, so she held it up to her. "Well," she began, "I guess these _sort of _look like Turing Test."

"That settles it!" Button declared. "Robot!"

"Yeah, I like 'robot' way better than 'automatron,'" Scootaloo said, struggling on the last word.

"It's 'automaton,' but you're right," Sweetie Belle agreed. "'Robot' is easier to say."

The other children all voiced their agreement.

"But it doesn't matter if it's easier to say!" Twilight exclaimed. "The correct term is 'automaton!'"

"_Judging by the semi-independent actions of these machines,"_ Turing Test said, cutting in after flipping through the entire comic, _"their resemblance to myself is closer than those of the automata described in Twilight Sparkle's books. 'Robot' is an acceptable term."_

"Turing, not you too!" Twilight groaned, levitating the comic back to the children. "Listen, some comic that you found at… wait, where did you get this?"

"Hey!" yelled the bookseller from before as she galloped toward the group. "You kids didn't pay for that comic! You owe me three bits!"

The fillies and colts all shared a mutual fearful glance that showed they did not have any money.

"Run for it!" Applebloom yelled and they all scattered in different directions.

"Darn it, Button! Why are you always getting us in trouble?" Sweetie Belle yelled as they ran.

They soon were out of sight, lleaving Twilight and Turing Test alone once again.

"Well, _that _was something, I guess," Twilight said.

"_Correct. It was an interaction followed by a theft."_

"...Let's just go home."

* * *

Many many miles away, Spitfire and Soarin, leading members of the Wonderbolts, were flying toward a plateau through a mostly cloudless blue sky. The "mostly" was actually what they were called in for. Normally a disturbance involving weather or rainclouds could be handled by a regular weather team, but this was hardly a normal case.

"I think this is it!" Soarin yelled over the roar of wind as they rocketed toward the top of the rock-strewn plateau. They could see that it was actually covered with quite a lot of grass and wildflowers, making it far more lush than the surrounding countryside.

"Nice place, but where are the… ah ha, I see them!" Spitfire called. "Rogue storm clouds at 8 o'clock! And- wait, are those clouds wearing… _tutus?!"_

As they got closer, they saw that indeed they were. In fact, the nebulous dark gray clouds, six in all, were in vaguely bipedal shapes and were doing an elaborate series of ballet moves. From nowhere discernible, they could hear the sound of an orchestra playing the theme from "Swan Lake." And someone singing along with it. Badly.

"Okay, enough of this!" Spitfire shouted. "Who's responsible for this?! I'm Commander Spitfire of the Wonderbolts and I demand to know who-"

"Oho, a celebrity guest!" a mirthful voice cried. And then there was a flash of light and the responsible party appeared before her.

"Great," Spitfire groaned sarcastically. "Discord. I should have known."

Indeed it was. And the ever-chaotic draconequus either didn't pick up on her stone-faced glare or just didn't care. "Listen, this little cloud ballet I've got going on has been grand, but we really need someone to play the swan!" he said. He snapped his fingers and Spitfire was suddenly coated with brown feathers on her body, black feathers on her neck and head, white feathers on her cheeks, and her muzzle turned into a long, thin bill. "Ah ha, perfect! I hope you know how to do a good _pas de cheval_ because I hate to think our performance will be ruined by an amateur."

Nearby, Soarin was having a hard time keeping himself from laughing out loud.

"First of all, I can _pas de cheval _with the best of them and I kicked serious flank when I was in the _Danse des petits cygnes_ when I was a filly," Spitfire said, not missing a beat and staring pointedly at Soarin. "And second of all, this isn't a swan, it's a Vanhoover _goose_ you mismatched goon!"

"Sssso, you don't want the part?" he asked, looking slightly disappointed. "Oh very well." He snapped his fingers and Spitfire returned to her normal shape. "Well, in any case, how can I help such _distinguished_ members of Equestria's most elite flying team?"

"You can start by telling us what you think you're doing with those storm clouds!" Spitfire shouted. "They went missing from a nearby town and the ponies there could use some rain!"

"Oh, yes, that. Well, I was only borrowing them temporarily to put on a little show! I must say they're doing a pretty good job for a bunch of stratocumuli." The storm clouds silently seemed to be high-fiving and congratulating each other. "Except for _you_, number six! I saw that miserable excuse for a pirouette!" The sixth cloud hung its vaguely-shaped head.

"Wait," Soarin asked, jumping in the conversation. "Why? What show?"

"The show I'm putting on for my new mountain pony friends!" Discord replied with a sweeping gesture of his eagle-clawed arm.

They followed his gesture and saw a small family of nomadic mountain ponies sitting by, watching with big smiles on their faces. There was a father with three children.

"You see, they were gathering herbs up here and they just looked so _bored_ that I thought I might brighten up their day with some clouds! A bit ironic when you think about it…"

"That's kinda cool, I guess," Soarin said, causing Spitfire's frown to deepen.

"Now hold on," Spitfire continued. "Why would you want to entertain a small family?"

"I admit, I've got a soft spot for the kids," Discord said, waving to the foals, who smiled and waved back. "After all, I'm an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader!"

"A what?"

"It's canon to the comics, don't worry about it," Discord said quickly. "Anyway, I do apologize for the inconvenience, but I swear I was going to bring them right back! Don't you trust me?"

"Heh. _Trust_ you? You don't remember who I am, do you?" Spitfire asked coldly.

"Uhhhhhh errrrrrrr welllllll-"

"Tirek? A bunch of pegasi trying to stop him? You helping him get strong enough to _suck out our ability to fly?"_

"Ohhh, right. That." He looked genuinely embarrassed and actually began to shrink, as if trying quietly vanish. "Um, would a handwritten apology help?"

"It'd be a _start,"_ Spitfire replied sarcastically.

"Oh, good!" Discord exclaimed, snapping his fingers to make a piece of paper appear. "Let's see… 'I, Discord, do hereby' wait, is that one word or two? Ah, no matter, 'do hereby apologize to-'"

"Uh, guys?" Soarin said, interrupting the two of them. "There are six clouds, right?"

"Yeah," Spitfire replied. "Why do you… oh come on!"

They looked and saw that there were now five stormclouds instead of six. One of them had apparently wandered off.

"Oops. Well, guess we won't be doing a second show," Discord sighed.

"You dope! Now we've got a missing raincloud!"

"In a tutu," Soarin added.

"In a tutu!"

Sheepishly, Discord floated over to the remaining clouds and rapidly said "Well so sorry for the trouble hate to rush things but here's your apology let me take those other clouds back goodbye!" And with that, Discord and the five clouds vanished in a flash of light. Spitfire found a piece of paper stuck to her face with a hastily-written note that said "I.O.U. one apology" on it.

"So, um, should we go find that cloud?" Soarin asked.

Spitfire scanned the horizon and realized she didn't see it anywhere. "No, I'm not wasting my time tracking one enchanted cloud. Let's just send out a message telling the regional weather teams to look out for it and that'll be enough. Come on, let's go back to Cloudsdale."

The two of them took off and a few moments later, a sneaky cloud wearing a tutu came out from its hiding place behind a rock and began to fly off, fatefully, to Ponyville.

* * *

Twilight and Turing Test were nearly to the castle when Spike burst through the front door carrying a letter.

"Twilight, Twilight!" he shouted urgently. "It's a letter from Princess Celestia!"

"Oh my gosh, she responded!" Twilight took the letter from Spike, holding it up to read it. "Let's see… doesn't say much, just saying she'll be by to visit in half an hour and to let her know if it's not okay because she wants to… oh. She wants to 'talk about the automaton-'"

"_Robot," _Turing Test said.

"Um, Spike," Twilight asked uncertainly, ignoring Turing Test's correction, "what did you say in response?"

"Nothing! I don't think I have the authority to tell the Princess 'no' in your place. I thought I'd wait for you and Turing to get back."

"Th-then tell me… how long ago did you get this letter?"

"Um," he gulped, "h-half an hour ago?"

"_Warning: unknown aerial object approaching,"_ Turing Test intoned, ears twitching as she detected the sound.

"Oh no," Twilight whispered. She and Spike turned their eyes skyward to see what the mechanical pony had spotted. Sure enough, they saw Princess Celestia herself descending in the royal chariot, a cadre of Royal Guard pegasi accompanying her.

_Okay, Twilight, stay calm. Stay calm._ She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Don't worry, Twi-"

"_I'm completely calm, Spike!"_ Twilight shouted.

"R-riiiight," Spike said.

The two of them watched as Celestia's chariot touched down. Spike bowed low and Twilight gave a short curtsy, a practiced move she'd learned in her time as a princess.

"Good morning, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said warmly, approaching them both. She glanced over at Turing Test, but then turned back to Twilight. "You seem surprised to see me. Didn't you get my letter?"

"Uhhh, just a minute ago," Twilight said. She quickly added "But, of course, you're always welcome here, Princess Celestia!"

"I'm glad. I was hoping I could have a brief chat with you to discuss the automaton."

"_Correction,"_ Turing Test said, startling all three of them, Celestia badly enough that the nearby Royal Guards stiffened and readied themselves to defend their monarch. _"I have been reclassified as a robot. By what designation are you known, white alicorn?"_

"W-what?" Celestia gasped, sucking in a breath at this rough address from this strange mechanical creature.

"Ahahaha, oh, Turing Test, always so curious!" Twilight said, placing herself between Celestia and her new ward. "Um, Turing Test, this is Princess Celestia, my mentor, my friend, and the ruler of Equestria!"

"_Clarification required: is she therefore my end user's end user?"_

"That's not quite right, but for the time being, sure, let's go with that," Twilight said nervously, growing ever more tense as Celestia stared down at Turing Test. It was rare for her to see Celestia so unnerved by something and she was starting to suspect that Vanderbull hadn't been exaggerating in the slightest about the Princess's feelings about technology.

"_Understood. Greetings, Princess Celestia."_

Celestia just stared back at her.

"_Twilight Sparkle, no reply was received. She may have impaired hearing."_

"Turing Test, please just be quiet!" Twilight groaned.

Celestia regained her composure and turned back to Twilight, her smile in place once again. "Could we talk somewhere in private, please?"

"Of course! Spike, please go make us some tea! We'll be on the veranda!"

A Royal Guardspony came near. "Shall we accompany you, Your Highness?"

"No," Celestia replied. "I'd appreciate it if you would wait for me out here. I won't be long."

"Of course, Your Highness."

The small group entered the castle, Turing Test noisily clicking and whirring all the while, and now her metallic hooves were clanking on the castle floor, drawing an irritated look from Celestia.

"Turing, would you please go wait in a room?" Twilight asked.

"_Please specify."_

"Any room but my bedroom or the veranda! Just wait there!"

"_Understood,"_ she said, and turned to enter the nearest room, shutting the door behind her.

Celestia said nothing for a moment, but finally said, "It is clearly obedient toward you, I am relieved to say."

"Y-yeah. She's really not so bad."

"That… is what I want to talk to you about," Celestia said slowly.

_Uh oh,_ Twilight thought.

* * *

The two of them sat on the veranda, a gust of fresh air gently disturbing their manes. Spike had brought them their tea and they sat looking out at Ponyville from their high vantage point.

"It certainly is a wonderful view, Twilight," Celestia said.

"It is. And this castle really is feeling more and more like my own home every day." Twilight added a few sugar cubes to her tea, stirring it gently.

"I am very glad to hear that." Celestia sipped from her cup and gave a satisfied sigh. "Spike has improved his brewing technique. I remember the first time I had tea from him."

"Oh my gosh, I forgot about that!" Twilight laughed. "He forgot the strainer and it was almost nothing but tea leaves in the cup!"

"It was less a cup of tea and more like a hot salad at that point," Celestia chuckled.

The two princesses laughed and Twilight momentarily felt silly for having worried about Celestia's visit. She took a sip of her tea.

"Well, Twilight, as much as I enjoy just spending time with you, I'm afraid we must discuss that machine you're keeping."

Twilight tensed up and nearly spilled the tea. "W-what about her?"

Celestia sighed. "I know Vanderbull must have told you of my cautious approach to new technology, Twilight," she began, looking out at the horizon sadly. "But I want you to know why I have chosen to be this way.

"You see, back when automata were at the height of their popularity, I paid a visit to a farm. While I always found such mechanical things as automata to be novelties and had little interest in them, what I saw that day had a profound effect on me. An inventor had created several mechanical ponies that could plow entire fields on their own. He even gave a demonstration of this, and it was completely perfect and done just as fast as any farmhoof could have done. The inventor claimed the machine could plow ten more fields before the day was through without need for rest or food or even payment."

"That sounds amazing!" Twilight exclaimed. "Wait, this was over 100 years ago? Why don't we have this technology now?"

"Allow me to explain," Celestia said. "I asked the inventor if his machines had families. He laughed and of course replied that they didn't. And I then pointed out that the farm workers such a machine would replace, in contrast, _did_ have families. And those families might well go hungry if a machine took their breadwinners' jobs."

"Oh," Twilight said, realizing what her mentor was saying.

"I knew that the day might come when ponies had perfected their craft so well that a mechanical pony might be created that could mimic everything a pony could do. But rather than only taking away one job from ponies, such a machine could replace a pony entirely." Her expression grew dark. "A whole life reduced to nothing in the face of a machine that can do nearly anything. That is something I could not stand by and watch happen. Thus, I spoke out against and cut funding to such individuals whose automata threatened the livelihood of the average worker. Eventually, the machines went out of style entirely, surviving only as miniature children's toys."

Twilight was listening intently. Though she still wanted to speak on Turing Test's behalf, she was once again struck by how protective and caring Celestia was for her subjects. She wasn't sure if she agreed or not, but it was good to know that there was some motivation for her mistrust of technology other than a mere resistance to change and progress, as Vanderbull had said.

"I admit that I personally find the sight of that machine you have taken in… _disturbing_, to say the least," Celestia continued, "but I am more worried about where it came from than what it is. You still don't know who built it?"

"Unfortunately, no," Twilight replied. "Although Mr. Vanderbull and his assistant are researching it and they'll let me know if they find anything."

"And yet when it first arrived, it was looking for _you_ specifically, Twilight. This machine sought you out and you have brought it into your home. I fear that it may be a threat to you."

"Maybe she _was_ a threat_,_" Twilight said, "but her memory from before we found her is gone. Even she doesn't know why she was sent."

"Or maybe it just was programmed not to tell you."

"My friends have also suggested that," she admitted. "But I don't think so. Since she arrived, she's been totally harmless."

"That business where it nearly attacked you all was untrue, then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no… That did happen." She took a deep breath and pressed on. "But Turing Test listens to me. I told her to never _ever_ harm anypony and gave her a set of rules to follow."

"Well, I am glad to hear that. I hope that your trust is not misplaced," Celestia said, taking another drink from her cup. "I have been very worried for you, Twilight. I would be utterly distraught if something were to happen to you, and I shudder to think that someone sent this machine to do you harm. But whether your trust in it is misplaced or not, I will trust your judgment and ask only that you be on your guard and please don't hesitate to tell me if you suspect the machine of anything."

Twilight relaxed, glad as always to hear Celestia's care for her, and especially that she was trusting her. "So," she said, "you, um… I'm glad you haven't come to take her away. I was really afraid you would ask me to give her up."

"I admit the thought crossed my mind, Twilight, but I don't believe it is my place to interfere in another princess's duties. I would no more command you to abandon your efforts at making friends than I would make demands on Princess Cadance for the Crystal Empire. However..." and here she took on a pained expression.

"Yes?" Twilight asked, urging her to continue.

"I… I'm afraid I cannot be more supportive of your mission. I have been wrong in the past, just as anypony else is capable of being, and I know that your role in Equestria is of vital importance, but making friends with a machine is something I simply believe to be impossible. It may be intelligent, in its own way, but when I see that machine I cannot believe that it has anything resembling a heart. It is not truly even _alive_; it is only an illusion that it appears to be so. To tell the truth, I think it should be shut down and permanently taken apart. But I can tell that you would never allow it, and I am not going to force you. Instead, I would ask that you not let your curiosity and your kind heart deceive you; if that machine is not capable of friendship or if it becomes dangerous, then I'd like you to inform me. Then we can decide what to do with it."

_You're wrong, Princess,_ Twilight thought, choosing not to say it aloud. _Yesterday… it was only for a moment or two, but I know that Turing Test changed somehow. Even she isn't completely sure about it, but I have to believe that an intelligent being like her really __**can **__have emotions!_

Outwardly, she only said, "I understand, Princess Celestia. I guess we'll find out together!" She offered her a smile, which Celestia returned.

"I suppose we will," she replied, and drank the last of her tea.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	7. Electric Ladyland, Part II

**The Iron Horse**

**part 7**

"**Electric Ladyland, Part II"**

* * *

Twilight and Spike went back inside after bidding the Princess farewell. She heaved a sigh of relief and actually sat down, slumping against the front door, and Spike nearly joined her.

"That could have gone better," Twilight said, "but it also could have gone much worse. It looks like Princess Celestia will let me handle this!" She brightened. Then, raising her voice, she called "Turing Test? Turing, are you around?"

"_I am here, Twilight Sparkle,"_ she responded, her voice coming from the room she'd entered earlier. _"I require your input."_

"Input?" Twilight asked, walking to the room. She opened the door and found her robot friend sitting in front of a tall mirror. "Turing? What are you doing?"

"_I am cataloguing and comparing known physical differences between myself and the general norms of biological ponies. This present situation is the first time I have viewed my own image in its entirety."_

"Oh. I guess that's right, I hadn't really put you in front of a mirror, before. Um… thoughts?"

"_Unable to complete task. My shape is that of a biological pony and I have many of the same features. However, in our recent outing, I my auditory sensors picked up several onlookers commenting on my physical appearance."_

To Twilight's surprise, Turing then imitated several ponies voices, mimicking their inflection and pronunciation perfectly: _"'What is that thing? It didn't look like that in the newspaper!' 'Wow, that ugly thing is a mechanical pony? Weird.' 'Hey, get a load of that machine with Princess Twilight! Doesn't she get freaked out being followed by a talking hunk of metal?' 'Mommy, I'm scared!' 'Oh, jeez, I think it looked at me! Do you think it eats? What in the world is the princess doing with that monstrosity?!'"_

"Turing, enough!" Twilight cried.

"_Apologies, Twilight Sparkle. I only wished to convey several comments. Is it correct to state that the majority of ponies are disturbed or disgusted by my appearance?"_

Twilight hesitated and looked at Turing carefully. Without the ability to change her facial expression, it was impossible to tell just by looking at her if she had any emotional response. With a normal pony, Twilight would have likely assured her that such an awful thing was not the case. But with Turing…

"Turing Test, do you… I mean, does it bother you?"

"_I am attempting to discern how I am perceived by others."_

Twilight swallowed. "Then… yes, I think that it is true. Not everypony, but yes. Most ponies are not used to seeing an automaton in their midst."

"_Robot."_

"Okay, _fine,_ 'robot!'" Twilight exclaimed, giving up. "But listen: just because some ponies are scared of how you look, that doesn't mean anything."

"_That contradicts the data obtained in your books, Twilight Sparkle,"_ Turing replied. _"It is clear that ponies form bonds based on a number of factors. Physically acceptable or pleasing appearance is one of the most common of those factors, especially in the case of romantic relationships. I have seen this in 100% of stories documenting pony courtship, including an unfinished quill-written manuscript describing the relationship between one Flashlight Twinkle and one Dash Gentry."_

Twilight's eyes bulged and her cheeks went red. _She knows!_

"_The reactions of the citizens of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle's friends, and Princess Celestia all indicate that my physical appearance is unacceptable."_ She turned back to the mirror. _"This is an impediment to my directive of making friends. A solution must be found."_

"Wellll, there's more to making friends than physical appearance, but I don't see any harm in helping you look your best," Twilight said, starting to think out loud. "Unfortunately, that's not something I'm an expert in. The only pony I know who _is_ an expert is… of course!" Her face lit up. "Rarity! She's the perfect pony to help you! Oh, and this is a great opportunity for you to bond over something! Come on, Turing, we're going to the Carousel Boutique!"

"Um, Twilight," Spike said, his voice coming from the main hall, "I think you might want to look at this before you go."

Twilight and Turing exited the room and Twilight saw a veritable mountain of envelopes stacked at the door. "What in Equestria is that?!"

"The telegraph office sent over a bunch of these telegrams and the post office delivered a bunch of mail too. They say there's still more coming, too!"

"What? What are they writing about?"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Take a wild guess." He jerked his head toward Turing Test.

"Oh. Right. Wellll, I better answer them… but I was going to take Turing to see Rarity…" She paused to consider it. "Okay, I know what to do. Spike, I'm going to write a note to Rarity explaining the situation. I want you to take Turing over to the Boutique. I'll look through this mail."

"To see Rarity?" Spike looked overjoyed and he clasped his claws together eagerly. Then he paused and asked, "Are you sure you don't want help with this?"

"No, I want to look at these in private anyway," she replied. "But do me a favor and let me know when you're back so I can see Turing's new look, okay?" She smiled and winked at Turing. "Give my regards to Rarity, you two!"

* * *

Rarity was adjusting a dress on display in the window of the Carousel Boutique when the bell over the door rang. _A customer!_ She turned excitedly.

"Hello! My name is Rarity, and welcome to the Carousel Bout-_eek!"_

"Hi, Rarity!" Spike said, waving to her. Her attention wasn't on the little purple dragon, of course, but on the mechanical pony right behind him.

"S-Spike? What is this, why is the… oh, what was Sweetie calling it this morning?… Oh, yes, 'robot!'" She looked satisfied. "Yes, robot, that really is a much better word than that mouthful of a word 'automaton,' that Twilight keeps saying."

"Yeah, Turing Test here seems to prefer it too," Spike said.

"_That is correct,"_ Turing agreed._ "'Robot' is favored by juveniles. It is the choice of a new generation."_

"Well, now that we've got that settled… what is that robot doing here?!"

"_Twilight Sparkle has directed me to seek your assistance in attaining positive aesthetic modification."_

"Er, come again?"

"She wants to be pretty," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "Seriously, Turing can't you just talk normally, like me?"

"_Affirmative. Extrapolating data,"_ Turing said, and then, perfectly matching Spike's voice, said _"Hi! I'm Spike the Dragon! I enjoy naps and graphic-intensive manuscripts! Let's all breathe fire and consume gemstones!"_

"Cut that out!" Spike yelled. "I don't sound like that." Then he caught sight of Rarity stifling a laugh. "Aww, Rarity, don't laugh!"

"Oh, yes, um, sorry about that, Spikey-wikey." She regained her composure and continued. "So, what do you mean it wants to be pretty?"

Spike offered her the note Twilight had written. Rarity read it over, scrunching her face up as she did so. "My my, that is quite a request. But… it says here to help her 'friend.' Does that mean-"

"Yeah, Turing's actually really nice! Maybe a little different, but you should give her a chance!"

"_Affirmative. Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon have both identified me as a 'friend.'"_

"Hmm," Rarity said, a bit unsurely. "Well… Applejack did say she'd be willing to give things a try if Twilight could become friends with this mach- er, with Turing. I suppose…"

"Please, Rarity?" Spike asked, giving her the best puppy dog eyes a dragon could muster.

"Oh, what the hay! I am a professional, darling, and I never back down from a challenge!" She pointed a hoof at Turing Test. "Ready your chassis, Miss Test! I am going to give your look the greatest upgrade it has ever had!"

* * *

"Let's see, 'To Her Royal Highness Princess Twilight' yadda yadda 'automaton sounds fascinating' yadda yadda 'would love to have it join our traveling' whatever. Ugh!"

Twilight occasionally got fan letters or questions from citizens of Equestria, usually children, and those were ones she did her best to answer. But most of these telegrams and letters were, of course, about Turing Test, just as Spike had suggested. She tossed the letter aside and read another message and then another and another and so on.

_A few of them are genuinely curious about studying her or learning more about what results I'm getting. Then there are the ones asking if Turing could be part of a circus or magic show or some other crazy sideshow attraction! What is with these ponies asking things like that?!_ She opened a few more letters, reading them quickly and then throwing them out once she got the gist of whatever they wanted.

_But the sideshow letters aren't the worst. Not even the ones calling this a hoax are the worst. No, the worst ones are…_ She picked up a letter and read it. _This kind._

She saw the familiar words: 'very interested,' 'acquire your unique machine,' and 'greatly compensated for the device.'

_They want me to sell her._

* * *

"_Is this satisfactory?"_ Turing Test asked, exiting the dressing room with another of Rarity's selections.

"Oh, no, no, no, that isn't right either!" Rarity moaned.

They'd been trying on several different dresses, ranging from a flowing gown to a simple frock to a business suit and even a wool sweater. And yet somehow nothing looked right on her.

"I'm no expert, Rarity," Spike said, "but… yeah, for some reason none of your dresses look good." He paused and quickly added "I mean on her! Of course they're all great, they just-"

"No, Spike, you're absolutely correct. These dresses would look good on any number of ponies, but for some reason they just look out of place on Turing. It's hard to say why."

"_Perhaps it is the hue or texture?" _Turing suggested.

"No, that's not it," Rarity said, inspecting the dress closely.

"_Some mares in Twilight Sparkle's books complain of dresses causing their posteriors to appear abnormally large."_

"Your robodonkadonk looks fine, darling," Rarity assured her with a smile.

"_Idiom not found."_

"Never mind that." Rarity walked all around her, fussing with the sleeves, the hemline, and everything she could before stepping back and shaking her head.

"Any ideas, Rarity?" Spike asked.

"Not really. Oh! Unless we could do something about your mane or tail, Miss Turing?"

"_Inadvisable. My mane and tail are composed of conical filaments that draw heat from my inner machinery. Modifying them could jeopardize my functionality."_

"Well, I guess that's a no on the perm. Too bad, it's hard to find something to complement all those curls." She sat down to catch her breath and looked down at Spike disappointedly. "It's no good, Spikey-wikey. No matter what she tries on she just looks like… like…"

"Like a robot in a dress," Spike said.

"Exactly!" she cried dramatically. "Oh what to do, what to do, I can't believe my fashion expertise has failed me!"

"Um…" Spike began, trying to think of suggestion, "maybe… uhh… makeup?"

"Don't be silly, Spike." She rolled her eyes at the very suggestion. "She doesn't have eyelids or eyelashes, so that rules out eyeshadow or mascara. For pony's sake, she doesn't have lips, so we can't even apply lipstick! And even if we could, it would take more to help her fit in than just painting her face!"

Spike looked down, but then he saw Rarity's eyes light up.

"Oh wait wait wait… Yes! Ah ha, _idee~aa!_ Spike, you might be right after all!"

She walked over to Turing Test and gave her a confident smile. "I know just how to help you, Miss Turing! Let's get that dress back on the rack and then we're going out to find a true _artiste!"_

* * *

Rainbow Dash reclined lazily on a cloud just outside Ponyville when another pegasus flew over carrying a note.

"You Rainbow Dash?" he asked.

"The one and only!" she replied haughtily. She sat up to take the note from him.

"Message from Cloudsdale. The Wonderbolts reported a strange rogue cloud. Details are in the letter."

"Rogue cloud?"

"Apparently. Good luck if you see it!" he then flew off, leaving Rainbow Dash to open the letter.

She opened it and read it carefully. Then she looked up, her look one of confusion. "...In a _tutu_? Is this some kind of joke?!" She laid back down on her cloud. "Forget it. This sounds like some kind of prank from those hot-shots in Cloudsdale and I'm not going to fall for it and waste the other weatherponies' time looking for some imaginary cloud!"

She closed her eyes and began to doze, snoring loudly. She slept so soundly that she didn't even wake up at the sound of "Swan Lake" wafting through the air…

* * *

Palette Swap, the local paint and art supplies vendor of Ponyville, was drawing a simple sketch alone in his shop. He sold paint, brushes, easels, canvas, that sort of thing, but it was a fairly slow day for art supplies, so he thought he would plan his next watercolor painting. Then he raised his head as he heard a knock at the door.

"Oui?" he called. The door opened and he smiled, putting his signature red beret on over his blue mane. "Welcome to my shop! How may I help- _sacrebleu!"_

It wasn't the reaction Rarity had been hoping for, not that she had done much better when Turing Test had come into _her_ shop. Still, she decided to downplay it and led Spike and Turing Test up to the counter.

"Palette, I apologize for the suddenness of this request, but I am in dire need of your assistance and expertise!"

"Moi?" he asked, glancing between Rarity and her companions uncertainly.

"Yes!" Rarity exclaimed. "As you may know, my dear friend Twilight Sparkle has taken it upon herself to teach this robot the finer points of friendship. Alas, her appearance, as you so perfectly demonstrated, is prone to making ponies jump right out of their skin with fright! Despite my best efforts, it seems even the magic I work with dresses isn't enough to help her. But then I realized that there may still be a ray of hope!"

Palette Swap blinked. "I… don't quite understand, but please go on."

"My point is, _mon ami,_ that I want to enhance her appearance not with clothing, but with paint! And that is where you come in, for I can think of nopony better qualified to give Miss Turing Test here the perfect artistic flare she desires!"

"Oh, Mademoiselle Rarity, you do flatter me, but this pony," he looked to Turing Test, pausing for a moment, "she is, how do you say, not really my 'schtick.' I work with canvas, wood, and paper, but this metal and machinery is-"

"_I require your assistance,"_ Turing Test said, startling the art vendor once again. _"It is my directive to make friends. If I am to form bonds with ponies, it may be necessary to update my appearance."_

"You… want me to make you... beautiful?"

"_Correct. Ponies on the street find my appearance unacceptable. Such terms I have heard in the last 24 hours include the terms 'ugly thing,' 'freakish contraption,' and 'monstrosity.'"_

The rest of them were silent at this. Rarity finally spoke up saying, "Oh. Oh, darling, that really is awful." She looked away, feeling a bit guilty for her own previous judgments about this strange robot.

"_Are you able to assist me, Palette Swap?"_ Turing asked. Then, considering that the phrase had such a strong effect on Twilight Sparkle, she added, _"Please?"_

He smiled. "How could I say no to Miss Rarity and such a polite _poney mécanique?_ Very well, I shall lend a hoof to your cause!"

"Thank you, Palette," Rarity said with a smile. "Now, I have some design ideas, but I'll need your help choosing the right colors and accents!"

"Very well, but the first thing is first: we must apply a coat of primer to her! If you will both assist me, I will take her to my back room and get you both a pair of paint shirts and berets!"

Spike raised a claw tentatively. "Uh, why berets?"

"Pfft, such a ridiculous question!" Palette laughed, walking to the back room.

Spike waited and waited, but when he never got an answer, he shrugged his shoulders and walked to the back room.

* * *

A few hours later, a small crowd had gathered outside Palette Swap's shop. The news of what was happening travelled fast and even Ponyville's citizenry was not above gossip and a free show. Spike had run out to get lunch and blabbed about what he was working on with Rarity and Palette at the Hay Burger and soon the word spread to half a dozen others who told friend after friend and finally a crowd of over fifty ponies was milling around in the road outside the paint shop.

"I am telling you, Miss Rarity," Palette said, peeking through the windows, "we should wait until tonight! The paint, she is not dry!"

"Oh, a simple walk to the castle won't do it any harm!" Rarity laughed, dismissing the idea. "Besides, the whole point was to make Turing Test look more pleasing to the eye. Now we have a chance to show dozens and dozens of ponies what we've done! We can't miss this opportunity!"

"Well, perhaps, but-"

"And it is sure to drive up business for the shop!" Rarity added.

"Ah. When you put it that way, I suppose you have a point!" He chuckled and looked to Spike and Turing Test. "You are ready, Monsieur Spike, Mademoiselle Turing?"

"Ready!" Spike said.

"_If Rarity and Spike the Dragon and Palette Swap are confident that this will gain everypony's approval, then I am prepared."_

"Let me go out first and give it some dramatic flair," Rarity said, winking at them all. "This will be the talk of the town!"

She went outside, blinking in the bright sun of the afternoon. All the ponies in the crowd had been chatting excitedly, some sneering and ready to get a good laugh at the mechanical freak show. Rarity intended to show the naysayers a thing or two.

"Ladies and gentlecolts!" Rarity hollered loudly. "I know many of you came to see what we have wrought! Science from parts unknown in Equestria built the strange robot known as Turing Test!" A murmur went through the crowd at the word 'robot.' Everypony gathered seemed to take an immediate liking to the term. Rarity went on. "As I have said, science may have built her, but Princess Twilight Sparkle will give her a _soul! _And to celebrate this, Palette Swap and I have taken art and fashion to give her a new look that is sure to leave you dazzled! So, without further ado, I present to you all… Miss Turing Test!"

Turing emerged at the mention of her name. As she stepped into the light, a collective sound of awe swelled up from the crowd.

Rarity had originally wanted cooler colors, but in the end they had decided on a theme of red, white, and blue. The bottom parts of her forelegs had been painted blue with white stars on each leg, and her head and body had an asymmetrical, almost checkerboard-like red and white alternation. Her flank was blue and her back legs red, again with the white star motif on them. Though they couldn't modify her mane, they did toss in a little glitter to give it some extra sparkle. Rarity had been afraid that the colors would clash, but somehow, with Palette Swap's help, they managed to pull it off. And now Turing Test stood shining brightly, her new coat of paint standing in sharp contrast to her drab metallic hull from before.

"_Greetings, citizens of Ponyville,"_ Turing Test said. _"My goal is to integrate and become friends with normal ponies. Hopefully my appearance is more acceptable to you now."_

The crowd began to chatter excitedly, impressed and their initial fears about this strange mechanical pony began to dissipate. Somepony began stomping their hooves and others joined while still others began to applaud directly.

"Rarity, you did it!" Spike whispered.

"I'd say _we_ did it, Spikey-wikey," she replied, giving him a wink. His heart melted and did his best to hide his blush from her.

"Good luck, my friends," Palette said. "Madamoiselles, Monsieur, it has been my pleasure!"

As the crowd parted, Rarity led Turing Test and Spike down the road. All along the way, more and more ponies stopped what they were doing and gasped, smiling with glee at the colorful sight before them. Some of the same ponies from that morning were still out and about and now looked on Turing not with apprehension, but amazement.

_Processing._ Turing Test began to assess the situation. _Aesthetic appearance has been improved successfully. Biological life form responses to this unit show a significant rise in positivity. I am…_ She paused, her functions momentarily seizing up. _I am no longer unpleasant to look at. I am no longer 'ugly.'_

"Darling, this is no time to be lagging behind," Rarity exclaimed with a laugh. "Besides, with your new look, this is no time to simply walk. This is the time to _strut!"_

Rarity broke into a trot, holding her head high and proud. Turing Test fell in line behind her, mimicking the action. This seemed to get an even more positive response from the onlookers.

Eventually the crowd thinned out as they got closer to the castle. About fifty meters from it, Rarity stopped, causing Spike and Turing Test to do the same.

"Spike, come with me, please! Turing, please stay out here for a moment. I'd like Twilight to come out here and get a look at you in the sunlight! Ooh, she is going to just _love_ this!"

"_Understood,"_ Turing Test said.

"Oh, darling, I just can't get over how _fabulous_ you look!" she cooed. And with that, Rarity and Spike rushed inside to get Twilight.

Turing Test stood there. She didn't know why, but this new appearance, for whatever reason, had a profound effect on ponies. With this new asset, making friends and fulfilling her directive should be considerably easier. Twilight Sparkle would pleased with her. She was stylish. She was fabulous. She was _beautiful._

Then she heard a strange sound. Ears twitching on their hinges, she glanced skyward and caught a strange sight.

"_Unidentified aerial object located,"_ she said aloud. _"Auditory input from unknown source. Magical readings cannot be analyzed."_

Something was coming toward her in the sky. It was a cloud wearing a tutu and dancing to 'Swan Lake.' It was doing dance movements in the sky, spinning and turning and leaping. Turing Test knew what a cloud was, and anypony would normally have been able to see from its dark gray color that it was, in fact, a raincloud.

But Turing also knew that clouds did not wear tutus; therefore, with that narrow definition, she didn't recognize the thing before her _as_ a raincloud. Instead, she only regarded it as thing to be analyzed as the music wound to a close and the cloud finished with a grand gesture directly overhead.

And as Discord's magic finally ran out, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Spike all walked out the front door of the castle. They arrived too late to see the tutu disappear, but just soon enough to catch a glimpse of Turing's new look before the cloud emptied its entire contents of water onto her, dissipating into nothingness.

"_Noooo!"_ Rarity shrieked, seeing the day's work ruined in an instant.

The downpour was short-lived, but powerful. When it cleared, Turing was dripping wet, steam rising from her warm mane and sun-heated hull. The paint, so painstakingly applied, was now almost completely washed away. The red, white, and blue paint mixed into the mud to create a murky shade of pink. Wet clumps of glitter slowly fell from her mane. Only a few blotches of the paint and the remnants of a few stars were left on her.

She looked back at herself. _"Outer coloring removed,"_ she intoned. _"Aesthetic enhancement lost."_ She looked over to where Rarity, Twilight, and Spike were all gawking at her, too stunned to react further. She sat down in the mud with a wet _squelch_. Her ears slowly lowered and she looked down at the paint that had formerly adorned her body, now useless and ruined.

"Turing Test?" Twilight asked, approaching her. "Are you… are you okay?"

"_Physical condition is undamaged," _she replied. _"My hull is resistant to rust unless exposed to water for prolonged periods of time."_

"That's… well, I'm glad for that, at least."

"_Twilight Sparkle. I… I am…"_

They all looked to each other. They'd never heard Turing Test hesitate or fumble with words before.

"_Cognitive functions have entered into a continuous loop. This experience is deemed significant. However, unlike the previously identified 'gratification,' I do not wish to experience it further. I am unable to fully process the data."_

"What did she say, Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"I'm… I'm not really sure."

"_Clarifying," _Turing replied. _"It seems probable that I am again experiencing an emotion. I believe it can be identified as 'sadness.'"_ She raised her head slightly, though her ears were still lowered. _"Miss Rarity and Spike the Dragon and Palette Swap devoted effort toward my physical improvement. Such effort has now been negated. Twilight Sparkle wished to assist me in this goal. She is unsatisfied in this regard. I have failed in my directive. I am again unpleasant to look at. I am… sad."_

"Oh, you poor thing!" Rarity cried, bursting into tears. She threw her hooves around Turing's neck. "I'm so so sorry, darling! But don't you worry! We can take you back tomorrow and get that coat reapplied! And we'll let it dry this time!"

"Um, Rarity, Turing," Twilight said, and she also looked like she was about to cry. "I… I'm sorry, but Turing is made of an alloy that won't hold paint very well. I know this because it came up when I suggested painting her to Mr. Vanderbull and Gadget a few days ago. It would crack and peel from the continuous heat she gives off. We'd need to get a special kind of industrial paint and they only sell it in bulk. And it's… it's very expensive."

"Well, how expensive?" Rarity asked.

"Over a thousand bits per barrel. That's 75 liters of paint, by the way. And you had three colors, so of course we'd need three of them."

"Oh."

"And we'd need to reapply it to her once a month since she moves around so much that it would probably get scratched and start to flake off. We'd have to keep buying it."

Rarity made a face. That was far more than any of them could afford, even if she and her other five friends chipped in. And she suspected that not all of them would be willing to do so.

"I see," Rarity said quietly. She turned back to Turing. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but I don't think we can do this again after all."

Turing Test said nothing for a moment. _"Understood."_

"What now, Twilight?" Spike asked.

"Let's… let's go inside and get Turing cleaned up. We'll talk about what to do after that."

* * *

Rarity and Twilight finished toweling off Turing Test after getting rid of the excess paint. She was now back to her original look, and now it seemed that this was not a happy situation for the mechanical mare.

"Oh, I just feel awful about this whole mess," Rarity said, fussing and pacing back in the spacious bathroom where they'd washed off the remaining paint.

"You shouldn't, Rarity," Twilight said gently. "Your heart really was in the right place. Thank you very much for trying to help Turing Test."

"_Twilight Sparkle is correct,"_ Turing added. _"My current state of 'sadness' is only the result of your actions due to the impermanence of your contribution. The act itself was helpful."_

"Well, on the bright side," Rarity said, cheering up slightly, "at least a lot of ponies got to see that paint before it was washed away. You still might have made an impact on how this town sees you, Turing."

"_Analyzing… that is probable."_

"There, you see!" Twilight exclaimed. "It wasn't a total loss, though I do wish I had a chance to see your paint job for myself for more than a second."

They walked back out of the bathroom and walked down the hall, intending to see Rarity out. They passed Twilight's study along the way, which was where she had been reading and answering letters all day. Spike was carrying the envelopes of those few she had chosen to respond to when he encountered them.

"Aw, going home so soon, Rarity?" Spike asked sadly.

"I'm afraid so. I'm actually a bit exhausted after all that happened today."

"I could walk you home!" he offered. "I need to stop by the post office to drop off these letters Twilight is sending, s-so, heh heh, you know, it's on the way."

"If you take the long way," Rarity pointed out.

"Uh, it's the scenic route!" Spike exclaimed.

Rarity smiled, but then noticed the huge pile of mostly crumpled letters in the waste basket in the study. "Hm? What in Equestria are all those letters and telegrams about, Twilight?"

"Oh, just ponies mailing me about Turing," Twilight said quickly.

"_Scanning relevant data,"_ Turing Test said, peering at the letters, reading the text of those she could see clearly through the door.

"Turing, no!"

"_Aborting. Scan incomplete. However, it appears that many letters have made a financial offer to Twilight Sparkle for the acquisition of this unit."_ Turing Test cocked her head and turned to Twilight, who had already placed her hoof on her forehead. _"The offers appear to be substantial."_

"Wait a minute," Rarity said. "There are ponies that tried to _buy_ Turing Test?!"

"You're not going to sell her, are you, Twilight?!" Spike cried.

"No, of course not!" Twilight groaned. "I threw those letters out for a reason."

"_Illogical," _Turing said, catching their attention. _"Previously, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity indicated that they lacked the finances to purchase items in excess of 3000 bits total. However, the top offer made for me was 11 million bits."_

"ELEVEN MILLION?!" Rarity and Spike shouted.

"I don't care how much it is!" Twilight shouted.

"Well, neither do we!" Spike said defensively, Rarity nodding alongside him. "But seriously, that's a pretty surprising amount of money! That's… that's unbelievable!"

"_Twilight Sparkle, you could use that money for your own comfort. Or, should you wish to use it for the sake of others, you could use it for the nourishment of orphaned foals, the improvement of Ponyville's infrastructure, or any number of altruistic goals. _

"_By contrast, Turing Test is of less value to you. I have proven slow to learn magic. I have frustrated you and cost you and Miss Rarity money. I have frightened others and made you an object of ridicule. I have had only limited success making friends. I am a faulty companion and unworthy as an assistant. Why do you not sell me?"_

"Because you're my friend, Turing!" Twilight shouted. "Many of those things you said are true, but none of it matters! I don't think I have the _right_ to sell you, even if I actually wanted to! You're not just some machine to me, and I don't care what Celestia, the villagers, or anypony else says! You aren't a burden; in spite of some things I _like_ having you around, Turing Test! You're a friend of mine and I would never _ever_ sell you!"

They were all silent at that.

Rarity finally broke the silence, her eyes again watering, clearly moved by Twilight's sincerity. "Oh, Twilight… you really do care for her." She turned to Turing, who was still totally motionless, though her ears had shot straight up. Rarity smiled and went over to the robot pony and hugged her again. "You know what, Turing? You can take comfort in knowing you've added one more friend to your list of successes, so don't be so hard on yourself."

Twilight and Spike shared a look and also came over, embracing Turing Test in what had become a group hug.

"_Strange,"_ Turing said quietly. _"The cognitive loop previously identified as 'sadness' has terminated. Unable to explain."_

Twilight laughed. "I guess that means you feel better."

"_Feel."_ Turing said, as if trying out the word. _"Checking status: feeling better… the possibility exists. Thank you, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity and Spike the Dragon."_

"You're welcome, darling," Rarity said, letting her new friend go. "Now, come along, Spike! I need to get home and you need to drop off those letters! I think the post office should still be open if we hurry!"

Twilight and Turing watched them go. "Oh, by the way, Turing," Twilight said, "one of the letters was from Gadget. She's asking me to test out your capabilities. Up for some exercise tomorrow?"

"_I do not require exercise, but I will comply with physical diagnostics."_

"Great! In fact, I bet I know another pony who would be interested," she said knowingly. She turned to go back into her study.

Turing Test, however, made her way down the hallway back to the room with the mirror. She looked at herself just as before.

"_Running query: Is Turing Test a pony or merely a construction resembling one?"_ She let her processor check the data against biological definitions, scientific ones, the philosophy texts she'd read, and what she'd heard other ponies say, including Twilight. _"Results inconclusive. Query will require more data."_

She stared a moment longer at the mirror as she stood alone in the room. The image only told her so much. She would learn more about herself tomorrow. In the meantime, she could only stare at the strange creature in the looking glass and ask of it one question: _"What am I?"_

* * *

**To be continued...**


	8. Harder Better Faster Stronger

**The Iron Horse**

**part 8**

**Harder-Better-Faster-Stronger**

* * *

In the green, open plain just outside Ponyville, a pair of ponies came up over a hill, their hooves rustling the lush grass as they walked. The sun warmed the land and a light breeze rustled the leaves on a few trees scattered over the area. Wildflowers of purple, orange, and yellow dotted the land and the wind carried their scent over to the pair.

"What a gorgeous day!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. She inhaled through her nose and sighed happily. "Oh, those flowers… just wonderful. We could not have picked a nicer day to do this!"

"_Commencing intake of air,"_ Turing Test said, and a slight humming sound was heard as she drew air in through her own nostrils. "_No toxins detected. Spectrographic analysis reveals several elements. Flower pollen is one of the many substances. Sodium laureth sulfate is also present."_

"What the heck is that last one?"

"_A key ingredient in your shampoo, Twilight Sparkle."_

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Come on, Turing, doesn't this sight or maybe the smells make you feel something? Maybe another emotion?" She leaned toward her robotic companion hopefully.

"_Processing visual input… negative. Processing olfactory input… negative. No emotions detected."_

"Darn," Twilight said. "I really thought at least that sweet smell would do something."

"_While I am able to receive input through what could be considered my 'nose,' I am only able to detect and analyze the different components of the air. While my ability to do so outperforms that of biological ponies, I lack the ability to make judgments about odors in any sense of preferability."_

"So… you can't really smell anything?" Twilight asked. "Like, if I put a flower or a pile of garbage in front of you, you would have no idea which one would smell good?"

"_Clarifying: I would know from experience that certain smells would be undesirable, but as I lack olfactory neurons, I do not truly experience such a sensation as 'smelling' it. Therefore, I would be able to make no judgment of preference for myself. Example: you could express enjoyment of two varieties of flowers and still state preference. In contrast, I am incapable of making such a distinction. Without reference to others, such distinctions are impossible."_

"Wow," Twilight said. She felt a little sorry for Turing, but at least she was learning more about her. "Uh, well, what about sights? Could you, say, tell me if something was beautiful or not?"

"_Again, only through prior experience. Extrapolating such data is exceedingly complex and seems to vary from individual to individual. I was able to tell that my appearance was unacceptable to many ponies yesterday, but I required Rarity's assistance to inform me of such things as what clothing went with my eyes, that my mane was difficult to match to many clothing styles, and that my 'robodonkadonk' was of sufficient dimensions and mass."_

Twilight nearly choked. "Your _w-what?"_ she asked through her laughter.

"_Clarifying: my posterior."_

Twilight got her giggling under control. "Well, anyway, at least we know more about what you can and can't do. And that's what we're here for today! Just as soon as…"

"Twilight! Turing! I'm here, I'm here!"

They both turned to see Spike running up. He held a long scroll that was currently rolled up in one claw, and a quill in the other. He also carried a bottle of ink under one arm and set them all down. Additionally, he carried a backpack that clattered as he walked. He set that down as well. "Sorry I was late, Twilight. I got that extra ink and the supplies you wanted."

"No problem, Spike, we weren't waiting long." She smiled and turned to Turing Test. "Okay, Turing, Spike and I are going to check your physical abilities. Are you ready?"

"_Affirmative. My battery has been charged and I am running at maximum efficiency. I am prepared."_

"Great! Okay, Spike, let's get set up. We've got a speed test, a strength test, a math test-"

"And a Turing Test!" Spike exclaimed, sweeping his arm toward Turing.

Twilight made a face. "Let's just get started, Spike."

"Heh heh… right," he said. "It's too bad Rainbow Dash can't help out with this."

"Yeah," Twilight said, unable to hide her disappointment.

* * *

_**Earlier that day…**_

Twilight smiled up at Rainbow Dash from her position on the ground just below her pegasus friend's cloud house.

"No," Rainbow Dash said, and with that, turned to go back in the house.

"What?" Twilight cried. "Come on, Rainbow Dash, I could really use your help!"

Rainbow Dash turned back and shot Twilight a look. "Look, I get you want me to make friends with your little 'robot' friend, or whatever you're calling it now, but you do not need my help to put it through its paces. Pass."

"Oh come on, Rainbow!" Twilight flew up and perched on the path of the cloud house and looked at her pleadingly. "Rarity considers her a friend now, so you know it's not just me who likes her now. I'd really appreciate it if you gave her a chance. She's actually really nice and you know it's pretty important to me, so it would mean a lot if you lent me a hoof. I even told Turing all about you and how athletic and cool you are! Pleeease?"

Rainbow hesitated, then shook her head. "No, no way! You can't butter me up to hang out with that mechanical pony. Besides, running a bunch of tests on it sounds like a real snoozefest."

"But don't you want to see what Turing Test can do? She's got a lot of incredible abilities and you can be right there with me as we discover them!"

"No!" Rainbow shouted. "I've got a Daring Do book to read-"

"You mean _re_-read, don't you?"

"-and I'd rather check that out than spend even a second watching a machine do… whatever it is you're doing!" She huffed loudly as she walked by Twilight. "If you think you can make me like that thing by impressing me, then you're wrong! Call me when it's something I might actually care about!" And with that, she walked into her house, slamming the cloud door as loudly as she could (which wasn't very loud at all, because, well, it was made of clouds).

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh and flew off. _I really thought Rainbow Dash would want to see how powerful Turing is. I have no idea why she's not interested, but I guess I can't change her mind. I'll just have to do the measurements myself without her help._

* * *

"Okay, Turing," Twilight began, "let's start with a speed test. Specifically, how fast you can accelerate and your top running speed."

"_Very well. I am in fact capable of measuring such speed myself."_

"Oh? Well, that's helpful," Twilight said. "I guess we'll just let you do it."

"_Understood."_

Turing stepped away and scanned the area. The valley stretched a fairly long distance into the horizon, away from Ponyville. The ground was fairly level and didn't seem to have any major obstacles, so she could run in a straight line for a long distance without needing to stop.

"_Activating E-Mode."_ The mechanical hiss of the pistons in her legs activating and locking into place was heard. With this extra power, she should be able to run much faster. She crouched slightly, her legs tense and ready to send her forward, just like a professional racer at the starting line. "_I am ready, Twilight Sparkle. Shall I begin?"_

"Whenever you're ready!"

No sooner had she said so then Turing shot forward with astonishing speed. Twilight had seen Turing move quickly and do some amazing things already, but within hardly a blink of an eye, she was already 100 meters away and surging forward. She sent grass and dirt behind her as she sped away until she was almost completely out of sight. Twilight was about to fly over to see what was going on when she saw that Turing had reversed course and was now speeding toward them. About fifty meters away, she stopped suddenly, turning sideways and skidding to a halt just in front of her and Spike, creating a sizable gouge in the earth as she dug her hooves in to decelerate.

"_I achieved a top speed of approximately 120 kilometers per hour. I was able to achieve that speed from rest in 1.346 seconds."_

"That's… pretty darn fast," Spike said.

"That's faster than any pony can run! That's faster than most trains can go!" Twilight exclaimed.

"_I have no reference for that."_

"Well… wow, good job, Turing!" she added.

"_Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Now deactivating E-Mode to conserve power."_

"Uh, okay, Spike, write that down and then we'll continue with the math test."

"Ugh," Spike said, rolling his eyes. This sounded much less interesting to him.

"Turing, Spike will start timing you as soon as I ask you a question." She looked over to Spike, who brought out a stopwatch from his bag of supplies. "As soon as you answer, he'll stop the clock and record your time. I have the answers on these flash cards," she levitated them up, holding them in a way to hide their contents from Turing, "just to make sure you're getting them correct."

"_Understood."_

"I'm ready, Twilight!" Spike said, holding his finger on the button of the stopwatch.

"Okay then… Turing, let's start with a simple one. What is 4 plus 4?"

_Click_

"_Eight."_

_Click._

"Less than one second. Heh," Spike said. "That was easy."

"Not surprising. Let's try a tough one. What is 385 times 6?"

_Click._

"_2310."_

_Click._

"Um, less than one second again, Twilight."

"Not bad, not bad. What is 4249 divided by 8?"

_Click._

"_531.125."_

_Click._

"Wow. Uh…"

"Yeah, wow, that was fast!" Twilight exclaimed. "You're really great at math, and without even using an abacus."

"_This may not be an efficient means of testing my capability, Twilight Sparkle. I am capable of calculating most general mathematical equations in an amount of time that would seem instantaneous. In fact, I can perform a large number of calculations simultaneously with no drop in performance whatsoever."_

"How large a number?" Twilight asked.

"_The upper limit is unknown, but 1 million calculations in one second is certainly possible."_

Twilight gawked. "One _million?!"_

"_Likely far more. That was a low estimation."_

Spike dropped the stopwatch, looking utterly dumbstruck. Finally he said, "I'm not sure we can ask her that many math problems today."

"_I am capable of performing a far greater number of basic operations as part of my synthetic neural processes. While the exact nature of my inner workings is unknown, I am able to estimate my abilities. It allows me to simulate the workings of a biological brain such as counting by sight and the memory of events. However, due to its precise nature, I am capable of exact measurements and perfect memory. Example: we passed exactly 14 ponies on the way here and that tree directly behind you has 30,472 leaves on it."_

Twilight and Spike gawked at her.

"You mean you counted all that stuff on the way here?"

"_Negative. I observed my surroundings and recorded those observations. I can access any event I have experienced at any time with perfect recollection and then report information such as numerical values."_

"Amazing…" Twilight still had a hard time wrapping her head around how impressive Turing could be at times. But still, it wasn't a test unless she checked for limitations...

Twilight got a mischievous look on her face. "How about this… what is 10 divided by ZERO?"

The glow of Turing Test's eyes shrank to pinpricks and for a moment her head drooped lopsidedly to the left before righting itself and her eyes returned to normal. "_An error has occurred. Operation impossible. Higher cognitive function was required to terminate the calculation."_ She turned to Twilight. "_I will direct my program to immediately terminate impossible functions in the future. It would be inadvisable to place such inquiries in the future, Twilight Sparkle."_

"Ahahaha… er, sorry, Turing," Twilight said sheepishly. "Let's just go on to the next test. This time, let's try a strength test!"

Right on schedule, their new assistant arrived. The sound of trotting and the rumble and rattle of something heavy and metal inside a wooden cart could be heard long before he arrived. Finally, the sight of a very large white pegasus stallion was visible as he rounded the corner and hauled his cart into the clearing.

"I'M READY TO ROCK!" Bulk Biceps shouted excitedly. "LET'S DO THIS, METAL PONY!"

"_Clarification needed," _Turing replied. "_What do you require of me, Twilight Sparkle?"_

"Turing, this is Bulk Biceps. He is, with the possible exception of Big Macintosh, the strongest pony in town."

"YEAH!"

Twilight flinched at the muscular pony's sudden outburst, but continued. "He's generously agreed to help us by bringing his weight-lifting equipment, so we can test your leg power."

"Let's see what you got, robot!" Bulk Biceps shouted excitedly. "Are you ready?!"

"_Affirmative," _Turing replied.

"Come on, I can't hear you!" Bulk shouted. "Louder, like this: YEAH!"

"_**Affirmative." **_

Twilight winced. It was no more excited, but certainly louder.

"NO, COME ON, LET'S HEAR IT! **YYEEAAAHHH!"**

Turing adjusted her volume to a considerably higher level and replied:

"_**AFIIIIIRRMATIIIIIIIVVE."**_

Birds scattered from trees and the others covered their ears as the sound rang out, loud enough to be heard from miles.

"_Was that sufficient?" _Turing asked, returning her voice to normal.

"WHAT?" Bulk Biceps asked, rubbing his ears,which were still ringing. "I MEAN… er, yeah. That was fine," he said more quietly.

With that, he began to take the equipment and weights out of his cart and prepared to set things up for the test.

"Okay, Turing Test, activate E-Mode again and we'll try to figure out just how strong you really are!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

Rainbow Dash had been reading her book when the loudest utterance of the word "affirmative" in Equestrian history blasted through her open window and startled her so badly she nearly fell out of bed.

"What the hay was that?!" she exclaimed and peeked out her window. She couldn't see exactly what was going on, but her eyes were good enough to spot Twilight, Turing Test, Spike, and Bulk Biceps in a valley on the other side of Ponyville. Grumbling about the disturbance, but still somewhat curious, she fetched a pair of binoculars and peered out the window.

"What are they doing? Bench presses? That's the stupidest…"

And then she froze. Bulk Biceps lifted a fairly heavy-looking dumbell with his forelegs on his bench. He appeared to be straining, but then she saw Turing Test get on it and do it easily. Then she did it again with just _one_ hoof. Twilight was saying something excitedly and they added even more weight with no change in results.

"...whoa, how much weight is that? Maybe if I got closer-"

She stopped herself. _That's right. I'm not interested. That's what I told Twilight. There's no reason for me to care._ She went back to her book and was about to pick it up when she hesitated. _Buuut, maybe just a quick look wouldn't hurt. Yeah, just a quick look and that's it. Just out of curiosity. Yeah. I'll go hide out on that cloud and watch for a minute, then come back here before anypony sees me._

And with that, Rainbow Dash zoomed out the window toward the valley.

* * *

"Well, great, we're out of things to lift, Turing."

"_Shall I find more things to lift?"_

"I don't see the point," Twilight said, looking over the numbers she'd written down. "You lifted as much as Bulk Biceps and I could get on the barbell, then we put it all back in the cart and lifted the _entire thing_ and then we even put all of us on top of it! Uh, just for the record, how much do you weight, Bulk?"

"I PREFER NOT TO SAY."

"Fair enough." Twilight sighed. "Unfortunately, we didn't get close to your limit, but what you lifted has got to be over three metric tons. And you can lift that much using only two hooves, forelegs _or_ hind legs."

"I AM HUMBLED, YET IMPRESSED! YEAH!"

"Well, on the bright side, at least you've got a new fan," Spike said, thumbing at Bulk Biceps.

Turing looked to Bulk Biceps, who was smiling, then back to Spike. "_Understood."_

"All right, Turing, let's move on to towing capacity." This was going to be trickier. It was harder to lift something than it was to pull it, especially on wheels. Bulk Biceps managed to haul all of his equipment on his cart, after all, even if he was unable to vertically lift that much. "Spike's going to tie this rope around you and then tie one end to a force gauge. You'll be pulling against something else."

Bulk Biceps looked at Twilight and gestured to himself questioningly.

"No, not you Bulk," Twilight assured him. "I'm going to use my magic to try to hold the force gauge in place while Turing Test is pulling in the opposite direction. I'll hold it until she can't pull it any further."

Spike finished tying the force gauge to Turing.

"Okay, Turing, are you ready?"

"_Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle."_

"Good! Okay, start walking!"

Twilight tried to hold the gauge in place, her magic engulfing it and holding it firmly, but Turing very casually started to drag it in the opposite direction.

"That's three tons, Twilight!" Spike said, watching the number on the mechanical gauge continue to climb.

_Okay, let's keep going,_ she said to herself and increased her magical hold on it. She kept doing that until she was was really starting to strain. Turing began to slow and her light trot became a methodical trudging.

"S-seven tons!" he said in disbelief.

Twilight grit her teeth and exerted herself further. Finally, Turing came to a stop, her hooves only digging grooves into the earth without going anywhere. "That's it, Spike, what's it at?"

"It's… ten and a half, on the dot! Ten and a half tons!"

"Roger! Okay, Turing, stop!" The robot pony complied as Twilight took out her scroll. "Okay, writing it down. Whew, I haven't had to use that much magical force since I lifted that Ursa Minor!"

"Is that the last test?" Spike asked.

"Well, maybe just one more. Um…" She looked around and spotted a tall tree standing among several others. "Turing?"

"_Yes, Twilight Sparkle?"_

Twilight pointed at the tree. "I need to get some idea of how much force you can muster at once. I want you to go to that tree over there and buck it as hard as you can."

"_Understood. Commencing diagnostic of kicking power." _She walked up to the tree and looked at it for a moment, up and down, then turned back toward Twilight and the others. "_One moment, Twilight Sparkle. I detect the presence of an avian nest in the branches of this tree. While not occupied at this moment, it is possible that the bird may return. The neighboring tree is unoccupied. Shall I alter my target?"_

"Oh. Yes, of course, Turing. That's fine." Twilight looked over to Spike, who was smiling, and she returned it, but she had to admit that she wasn't prepared for Turing to take the time to consider the well-being of an animal. She'd never told her to do that. In fact, she hadn't even thought about the tree having birds living in it, but she put that out of mind for now and continue watching.

Turing walked over to the second tree and turned her back to it, getting into position. Once she was ready, she reared up onto her forelegs and aimed her hind legs at the tree. Then, with all the force she could muster she bucked with both legs into the trunk.

The whole party gasped and some even had to shield their eyes as the tree seemed to _explode_ in a cloud of splinters, bark, and leaves that radiated out in a cloud of debris. When they looked again, they saw that the stump of the tree remained, but most of the trunk had been completely obliterated and was lying in chunks that littered the small copse of trees.

"Twilight, look!" Spike shouted, pointing into the sky.

Twilight looked and could barely believe her eyes. The top part of the tree with its uppermost branches was _flying_ through the air, almost a hundred meters up, and was tumbling end-over-end in an arc. Gravity took over and the remnant of the tree crashed to the earth a good distance from where it had once been.

"Wow." Twilight didn't know what else to say. She'd known Turing was strong enough to break rocks with her hooves, but that wasn't totally unheard of even for some earth ponies. But such sudden force was…

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Bulk Biceps yelled, startling both Twilight and Spike, who'd momentarily somewhat forgotten he was there.

"Well, when he's right, he's right," Spike said, and started to applaud. "Turing, you're incredible!"

Turing walked over and shook the dust and splinters from her body. "_Your collective awe at my abilities is puzzling. I am merely demonstrating my physical limits for the purpose of assessment. Twilight Sparkle, can you provide information on why physical displays can be sources of amazement or delight? Without experiences with either emotion, the response seems illogical to me."_

"Uhhh, that might be hard to explain, actually," Twilight replied, not even knowing where to start.

"_Understood. I will endeavor to learn more. I may be able to gain information through interactions with those observing me today. Spike the Dragon, Bulk Biceps, or Rainbow Dash may be able to provide additional information."_

"Yeah, I guess- wait, Rainbow Dash? She's not here."

"_Incorrect. She is observing us from a cloud directly overhead."_

They all looked up and were just in time to see Rainbow Dash duck her head back behind the cloud she was perching on.

"HI, RAINBOW DASH!" Bulk Biceps yelled, waving and smiling obliviously.

"Rainbow Dash?!" Twilight exclaimed, her voice accentuated by both surprise and a bit of anger. "What are you doing up there, I thought you didn't want to come at all! Why are you watching us?"

Rainbow sighed and came down off of her cloud, landing amongst everyone. "Uh… hey," she said sheepishly.

"How long have you been there?" Twilight demanded.

"_She has been observing us for the last 20 minutes, shortly after we began my lifting assessment."_

"Tattle-tail," Rainbow Dash grumbled.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Okay, Rainbow Dash, what's going on here? I think you owe me an explanation."

"Okay, see," she began, "I admit I was lying when I said watching you test your robot's strength sounded boring. Then I heard her yelling something and looked out the window and I just couldn't resist when I saw her lifting all that stuff."

"If you felt that way, why didn't you just come when I asked?"

"Because I knew you weren't asking me just because you thought _I'd_ be interested," Rainbow said, narrowing her eyes. "I knew you wanted me to come because you thought I'd go all fangirl and want to be friends with that robot just because she's strong." She started hovering in the air and looked down at Twilight pointedly. "Am I right?"

The others also looked to her and Twilight squirmed under their collective gaze. "Um… somewhat."

"That's what I thought," Rainbow Dash said. "Look, I'm not mad or anything," she added, her tone more conciliatory, "and I'll stay and help today if you want, but you can forget about me making friends with her. I'm not going to bond with her over how strong she is."

"Why not?" Spike asked. "You love seeing other ponies show off how tough they are."

"Because _she_ was just _built_ that way," Rainbow said, pointing at Turing Test. "It's sort of cool, but it's not _that_ impressive if that's what she was just designed to do."

"_That does not seem relevant," _Turing remarked, startling Rainbow. "_Biological ponies likewise have innate abilities and talents from birth."_

"Yeah, but then they have to work on it and perfect it and get better at it," Rainbow Dash shot back. "You don't!"

Twilight looked away, remembering when she thought Turing had perfected magic without any effort. It had irritated her tremendously, so she couldn't exactly disagree with Rainbow Dash's point.

"Take me, for instance," she said, flying even higher and doing a loop for show. "I had to work hard for years to get as awesome as I am. And now I'm one of the fastest and best fliers in Equestria!"

"_That is useful information," _Turing Test said. "_How long have you been a member of the Wonderbolts?"_

Rainbow froze, her eyes first going wide, then narrowing coldly. "What did you just say?"

"_Clarifying: Twilight Sparkle's book on the history of the Wonderbolts indicated that they were a group of the best fliers in Equestria,"_ Turing said. "_You indicated that you met such a qualification. Therefore, logically, you must be a member of the Wonderbolts."_

Twilight and Spike were both motioning at Turing to be quiet.

"_Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon, are you both suffering from neurological muscle spasms?"_

"Ohhh Turing!" Twilight groaned.

"I don't like your tone, robot!" Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. "You think you're so tough?!"

"_My durability is very high."_

"You think you're hot stuff?!"

"_My hull can reach high temperatures in direct sunlight."_

Rainbow's frustration was boiling over. "Well, then, can you do _this?"_

She took to the air and flew off quite a distance, enough to where even Turing lost sight of her. Then she came rocketing toward them, overhead, picking up speed until…

"Uh oh… Spike, Bulk, cover your ears!" Twilight shouted, realizing what Rainbow was attempting.

Turing continued to watch as Rainbow Dash - now just a rainbow-colored streak - soared over them when there was a very loud sound, like an explosion, and a circular ring of multicolored light radiated outward, followed by a rumbling shockwave that blew back their manes (or scales in Spike's case).

"Still amazing as ever," Spike breathed. Twilight and Bulk Biceps nodded as well, and even Bulk was speechless at the dazzling sight.

A moment later, Rainbow Dash returned to the ground, tossing her mane back proudly. "Ha! What do you think about that?"

"_Unknown."_

"Huh?" Rainbow asked, confused by the simple response.

"_Clarifying: You previously asked if I was capable of such a feat. The manipulation of light in such a fashion is beyond my capabilities, but if you reference the ability to fly at supersonic speeds, that is unknown. I have yet to utilize or assess my pegasus-mode."_

"Your… what?"

"_I will demonstrate. Switching to P-Mode."_ Turing lowered her head and a panel on her back lifted slightly. With a loud _clack-clack-clack_ sound, a pair of brass-colored wings sprouted out horizontally, then raised into an elevated V-like position. She raised her head and stood there, her bright wings reflecting light on the ground as they gleamed in the sun.

Rainbow blinked, then turned back to Twilight. "Okay, not going to lie: that was pretty awesome."

Twilight grinned smugly.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and turned back to Turing. "But that still doesn't mean anything to me! I bet I could beat the pants off you any day of the week!"

"_I do not wear pants on any day of the week."_

"Are you being smart with me?"

"_Affirmative: I possess high cognitive function."_

"Then how about we see what you're made of!"

"_I am composed of titanium alloy among many other-"_

"Gah, just shut up! I mean I can defeat you in a race!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Twilight's eyes popped open. "A r-race? Oh, I don't know if-"

"_A competitive race would provide a sufficient opportunity to assess my flight capabilities, Twilight Sparkle. Am I correct?"_

Twilight looked to Spike and Bulk Biceps for help. Spike just shrugged and Bulk Biceps actually looked excited.

"A RACE SOUNDS AWESOME! I GOTTA TELL EVERYPONY SO THEY CAN WATCH!"

"N-now wait a minute!" Twilight cried.

Rainbow Dash wasn't as hesitant. "Ha! That's a great idea, Bulk Biceps!" She turned back to Turing Test. "All right, robot: I challenge you to a race! What do you say to that?"

Turing stepped forward, and though neither her unchanging face nor the tone of her level synthetic voice gave any indication of emotion, Twilight couldn't help but detect an edge of competitiveness to her simple reply: "_Challenge accepted."_

* * *

**To be continued...**


	9. Circuit

**The Iron Horse**

**part 9**

**Circuit**

* * *

Scootaloo pulled up to the crowd of ponies gathered on a tall hill just outside of town. She parked her scooter, hanging her helmet on the handlebars, before eagerly pushing through a veritable forest of legs to see if she could find her idol. Fortunately for her, Rainbow Dash was making sure that absolutely _everypony_ saw her strutting and revving the crowd up.

"Come on, everypony!" she was saying, hovering overhead to be as visible as possible. "This is your chance to see! Mare vs Machine!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo exclaimed, eagerly flapping her wings as she bounded forward. "I heard you're going to race Twilight's robot! Uh… Turing Test, that's it! Is it true?"

"Guess everypony heard!" Rainbow Dash said, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear her. "But in case you all just showed up... yes it is true! I'm going to race a robot!" She landed and ruffled Scootaloo's mane affectionately, quietly adding, "And I'm glad you came, squirt."

"Good luck in the race, Rainbow Dash!" she cried.

"Thanks. I won't need it, but thanks!"

Scootaloo didn't think she could be more excited, but then she always loved to watch Rainbow Dash compete. Then she looked and saw Twilight and Turing Test a short distance away. Twilight did not look anywhere near as enthusiastic as Rainbow Dash. Since Twilight had been tutoring her during Twilight Time, it seemed wrong to not cheer her and Turing on as well, so she approached the pair of them.

Twilight was pacing back and forth and muttering to herself. Turing was doing nothing but standing there.

"Um, hi there, Twilight!" Scootaloo said, trying to get Twilight's attention.

"Huh? Oh, uh, hello Scootaloo," Twilight said. "I guess you're here to watch the race… just like everypony else…"

"Yeah, I… um, are you okay?"

Twilight looked around, shifting her eyes nervously. "Maybe. But if things go wrong or… or there's another lightning strike… No, no, no thunderclouds today..." She seemed to forget that Scootaloo was there and went back to pacing.

Scootaloo looked over to Turing. She approached the robot pony nervously, but decided that it would only be right to wish her luck too, since she was the one actually racing Rainbow Dash.

"Um.. h-hey, Turing Test!" she said, hesitating slightly.

Turing swiveled her head around to stare at the little orange filly.

"I wanted to wish you good luck in the race!"

Turing didn't seem to understand at first and said nothing. Her ears moved slightly on their hinges, squeaking gently as they did so, before she replied, "_Understood. You are following polite social convention by expressing well-wishes for the competitors."_

"I… think so, yeah," Scootaloo said, not really following what Turing said.

"_Am I to understand that you favor my chances in the race?"_

Scootaloo looked away and laughed nervously. "Actually, I'm sorry, but I think Rainbow Dash will win. Or at least I hope she wins."

"_I do not understand how the outcome benefits you in a way that you would have preference. Please clarify."_

"I guess it doesn't really do anything for me… but if she wins, it'll make Rainbow Dash happy, and she's my big sister!"

"_Understood. In truth, I am uncertain of the outcome. I believe it will be a good means of testing my abilities while comparing them to those of a biological pony. Rainbow Dash displays high physical prowess."_

"That's true. You'll have to fly pretty fast to beat her!"

Then Twilight interrupted this with an outburst of "She could overheat! She might catch on fire! Oh no, oh no no no…!"

Scootaloo realized that Twilight was still talking to herself and returned her attention to Turing. "What's wrong with Twilight?"

"_Twilight Sparkle seems to be concerned about my participation in the race,"_ Turing replied. "_Because my flight capabilities have never been utilized, she worries that I will be incapable or become damaged. She also worries that other ponies will ridicule me if I fail to defeat Rainbow Dash. Paradoxically, she also fears that Rainbow Dash will become hostile if I am successful in defeating her."_

"Wait a minute, 'fly?' I heard it was a race, but I thought it was a race on hoof!"

"_Incorrect. My running capability has been assessed as far beyond that of any biological pony. My flight has never been tested, and although I have data instructing me how to fly, I have yet to fly in actuality."_

"I didn't even know you _could_ fly!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "Where are your wings?"

"_One moment: I will display them. Switching to P-Mode."_

The wings appeared once again, clattering as they emerged from her back and locked into position.

"Whoa…" Scootaloo breathed.

The crowd of ponies had been focused on Rainbow Dash, who was showboating and already proclaiming her inevitable victory, but the sight of the shiny metallic wings suddenly got their attention and an awestruck "Oooh!" swelled up from them as they turned and approached her.

"Wow, look at those!" a mare exclaimed.

"Can she really fly on those? Cool!" a stallion asked excitedly.

More and more questions and cheers were tossed out and suddenly Twilight came back to reality when she realized the focus had turned back to Turing.

"N-now careful, everypony! Please remember that Turing Test has never actually flown before!"

"And that's only _one_ reason why she's gonna lose!" Rainbow Dash growled, angry that Turing had inadvertently stolen the attention away from her. "Enough waiting around, this crowd is big enough!" She turned to Turing and grinned. "What do you say, robot? Are you ready to get this show on the road?"

"_Where we are going, we do not need roads."_

The crowd laughed at that and Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, none of them realizing that Turing was not trying to be clever.

"Ooh, ooh, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cried, getting her idol's attention. "Can I be the one to hold the flag and start the race? Pleeeeasse?"

"Ha! Of course!" She then took to the air, hovering above everypony, preparing to lay down the course and rules of the race.

A cheer went up from the crowd as they realized the race was about to start.

"The race is from here, around the peak of Dragon's Fang Mountain," Rainbow Dash began, pointing to the peak of the mountain in the distance, "then touching the flagpole on top of the Castle of the Two Sisters, then ring the bell at the Ponyville Clocktower, and finally back here, busting the cloud above the crowd to end the race!" She pointed to the solitary white cloud placed above them.

From the hill on which they stood, it would be easy to see the competitors as they completed each leg of the race. The course was a vague rhombus shape and the circuit would take them over most of Ponyville, especially when they reached the Clocktower. Turing looked over each landmark and started to analyze the course to attempt to determine the best way to approach them.

"Any questions, robot?" Rainbow Dash asked, somewhat tauntingly.

"_No clarification is required."_

"And her name is Turing Test, not 'robot,' Rainbow Dash," Twilight Sparkle added, making a face.

"All right, all right, if that's what you want, Twi," she replied, holding up her hooves in mock surrender.

Twilight motioned for Turing Test to come closer to talk to her one more time, privately, before the race. "Turing, you don't have to do this. I mean, I hate to say it, but I think everypony here is hoping Rainbow Dash wins."

Turing cocked her head to the side and Twilight knew she didn't understand. "_That is irrelevant."_

"Maybe, maybe not," she said, "but that doesn't change the fact that I still think this is dangerous."

"_Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle. My systems are all operating normally. I have more than enough battery power, even after this morning's assessments, to complete this race. I will take no unnecessary risk that would cause injury to Rainbow Dash, myself, or others. However, if you forbid my participation, then I will comply."_

Twilight hesitated, but dropping out now that things had gone this far would reflect badly on her and Turing alike. And part of her, however tiny, was annoyed at Rainbow for her treatment of Turing Test and wanted to wipe that grin off her face.

"Okay, Turing, let's see you race," she said finally, giving her a confident grin. "Just don't go easy on her."

"_Understood."_

"Are we going to talk all day or are we gonna race?!" Rainbow shouted, landing and placing herself at the starting line.

Turing walked over to the starting line as well. "_We will race."_

"Ha! That's what I wanted to hear!"

"_However, I must caution you and those gathered,"_ she added. "_My wings work on jet propulsion. Please avoid positioning yourself in close proximity directly behind me or you may be injured by streams of heated air."_

"Good to know," Dash said, quickly adding, "but don't worry. I don't think I'll have to worry about being behind you."

They both got into position, knees bent. Scootaloo took up a spot before them. She was about to give the countdown when they all heard a sound. It started as a low whine, but then they all saw that Turing Test had started the jets in her wings, warming them up and preparing them for takeoff. The sound of them running was surprisingly loud and they kicked up the grass and dirt behind her as she revved them up to speed. When she took off, it would be easy to boost them high enough to propel herself forwards.

_This might be tougher than I thought if she doesn't need to flap!_ Rainbow thought, although outwardly she gave no sign of worry. _I thought she was going to try flapping those metal wings, but if she's got __**jets**_ _then…_

"Racers, on your marks!" Scootaloo said, holding up the flag as she stood on two legs. "Get set…" They readied their legs, preparing for takeoff. "GO!"

The flag came down and Rainbow Dash burst forward into the air. Turing Test leaped into the air as well, her jets going on full blast, likewise propelling her forward. Rainbow had the lead at the start, but Turing rapidly accelerated and was soon flying far faster than the crowd had expected her to go.

The race was on.

* * *

Rainbow Dash had launched herself with both her legs and her wings and rapidly accelerated to a solid cruising speed. The mountain was dead ahead and she knew that even at this speed she would leave almost any other pegasus in the dust behind her.

_That robot is waaay too heavy to catch up, jets or no jets!_ she reasoned. _Plus I was already half a kilometer ahead of her before she barely left the starting line! This is going to be a… wait, what's that sound?_

She risked a glance backward as a steady, high-pitched rumble and whine got louder and louder. Sure enough, Turing Test was behind her. And she was catching up quickly.

_Faster than I thought!_ Rainbow realized, turning her attention back to the race. She didn't want to burn too much energy at the start, but she'd need to keep her lead. She didn't want to let a machine pass her for even a second. With that in mind, she began to flap her wings even harder and sped up.

Turing, by contrast, had been accelerating the whole time and found she was still able to go faster. Catching up to Rainbow Dash would not be difficult, according to her calculations. But going faster than Rainbow was not the real problem.

_Estimating aerial maneuverability… unable to match that of Rainbow Dash__._ Turing's systems reworked the math and she adjusted her strategy on the fly. _Adjusting course and flight path to compensate._

The peak of the mountain was getting closer and judging by how nimble Rainbow Dash was in the air, it was likely that she would simply go right around it at a sharp angle and speed toward the next target at the Castle of the Two Sisters. But Turing could not perform such a sudden change in direction without a massive sacrifice in speed; her weight and momentum were simply too great. There was only one solution…

Rainbow heard the sound of Turing's jets get quieter and naturally assumed that she was falling behind. But a glint of sunlight on metal caught her peripheral vision and she saw that in fact Turing _was_ moving away, but to the side. She was curving away from the straight path.

_What the hay is she doing?! Why would she take the long path away from the mountain?_

What Rainbow hadn't realized was that Turing was actually now going faster than she was, but rather than going straight at the peak, she was taking a longer curve around it. Rainbow realized this too late as she approached the peak and made a hairpin turn, while Turing banked around it in a long, sweeping path. But as she made the turn, she saw the Turing was returning to a straighter path and as she got closer, she was slowly starting to edge forward.

"You think that's going to work?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. She grinned. _That won't work on the next leg! You __**have**_ _to touch the flagpole and can't just bank around it: good luck not losing any speed on that!_

* * *

The pegasi had the best view of the race as they hovered over the crowd at the hill. Several of them were sporting binoculars. They watched as Turing took the long curve around the peak, but to their surprise, her extra speed made it so she went around it at the exact same time as Rainbow Dash, just at a wider turn.

"They're both around the peak!" one of them yelled. "Looks like neither one's got a sure lead yet!"

The crowd yelled excitedly. The two dots in the distance, the shining metal one and colorful rainbow streak, were now heading for the skies over the Everfree Forest, and beyond that was the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Rainbow grit her teeth as she saw that Turing's path was coming closer to her own. And as they got closer, she realized something else and it chilled her even worse than the fierce wind in her face:

Turing was still speeding up. A few seconds later, it became clear that the mechanical pony had passed her!

_Calculating__,_ Turing's systems told her. _Flagpole is a small target. Banking to conserve speed impossible. Evaluating options…_

Rainbow Dash didn't seem to have many options. A straight path was the only real path she could take. She could just surge forward, then put on the brakes and tap the flagpole with her back hooves and spring off it…

_No, no, that'll slow me down too much!_ Rainbow Dash realized. _She's still going way too fast. If I slow down to hit the pole, she'll increase her lead! Think, Rainbow, think! How can I touch that pole without losing speed?!_

Then it hit her. A sly grin spread across her face as they lowered their altitude and the trees of the Everfree became visible. The ruins of the castle were now in sight and she could spot the details of the crumbling courtyard and dilapidated towers. And best of all, Turing was slowing down.

_Adjusting flight speed,_ Turing's systems informed her. She decided that she would have to time the rate of deceleration so that she could touch the flagpole and turn around as fast as possible. There was no other way that she could determine.

Rainbow suddenly soared right by Turing as she was slowing. While Turing intended to slow down and fire her jets in retrograde to touch the flagpole and rapidly accelerate, Dash wasn't slowing down at all.

Rainbow stuck out her hoof as she zoomed toward the flagpole. Rather than merely touching the flagpole and springing off it, she hooked her foreleg around it and swung around, letting her momentum slingshot her toward her next target.

Turing watched as Rainbow surged onward, flippantly saluting as she sped away. It was too late to adjust her own strategy as she turned around letting her jets slow her down just enough to tap the flagpole before reversing direction.

_Lead lost. Recalculating… odds of loss now at 80%. Adjusting strategy…_

* * *

"Rainbow Dash is in the lead! Oh my gosh, she just swung around that flagpole without slowing down at all!"

"Woohoo, all right Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo screamed.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Twilight had taken flight as well and was watching the two racers uneasily. _Oh, Turing, what are you going to do now? You can't change directions as fast as Rainbow and you'll have to slow down to hit the bell! Rainbow's just too good a racer… _

* * *

Rainbow knew she had it in the bag. She was worried she'd have to go supersonic, and that would give her plenty of speed, but it also burned a lot of energy and left her exhausted. A Sonic Rainboom was therefore a great stunt, but not necessarily a great racing technique unless you didn't have far to go.

The Ponyville Clocktower was dead ahead, just a few kilometers away. It was a straight shot, so she aimed right for the bell. She would slow down at the last second, ring the bell, then blast off toward the finish line. Sure, she had to slow down since she couldn't swing around that heavy bell like she could the flagpole, but then Turing would have to do the same, and she couldn't accelerate as fast as Rainbow Dash.

But just then, she heard a sound overhead and looked up with astonishment.

Turing Test was directly over her, the jets in her wings roaring at full blast as she sped forward, taking a larger and larger lead.

_Heh. Whatever,_ Rainbow said to herself. _You still have to slow down, ya dumb robot. I'll just pass you again like last time. The finish line isn't that far away from the Clocktower, either, so even your speed won't help you now!_

But to Rainbow's surprise, Turing did not slow down. She was rocketing at the Clocktower at full speed, and now she was well ahead of Rainbow. In fact, if she kept that up, she would hit the bell dead on! At that speed, a pony would break her neck!

At least, a _normal _pony would…

And then Rainbow realized, too late, what Turing was doing.

Turing went at the bell at full speed. She cut her jets at the very last second, folding her wings inwards and straightening her body out like an arrow. Her narrow frame went right through the support columns of the Clocktower steeple and she glanced off the side of the bell with her body, creating a loud, reverberant ringing as she ricocheted off it, her titanium hull leaving her totally undamaged from the impact. Once that was done, she spread her wings and re-started her jets, letting her momentum carry her until the power of the jets allowed her to bank and turn toward the finish line.

Some distance behind her, Rainbow Dash was trying hard to think of a way to save this race, and it wasn't looking good.

_Updating…_ Turing calculated. _Odds of victory now at 70%..._

* * *

"Holy smoke! Th-the robot just rammed right into that bell and kept going! She's in the lead! She's coming this way!"

The crowd gasped, some in awe, some (who favored Rainbow Dash) in fear, and others just fell totally silent.

Not among any of them was Twilight who couldn't contain herself: "Go, Turing Test, go!"

She clasped her hooves over her mouth guiltily as the others looked to her.

"Er… well, I mean, they are _both_ my friends, after all."

A few of the other ponies in the crowd smiled at that. A few of them even began to cheer and some even began to chant: "Tur-ing-Test! Tur-ing-Test! _Tur-ing-Test!"_

* * *

Rainbow was running out of time. If she slowed down and rang the bell like she was planning to originally, Turing Test would get too far ahead and would be uncatchable. But if she tried to do what Turing did, that wouldn't work either. Turing was made of metal, so hitting the bell even at that speed did nothing to her; in contrast, Rainbow Dash would break a rib or a hoof or a leg if she collided with the bell!

_Come on, Rainbow Dash, think, think! How can you ring that bell without slowing down to touch it?! It's impossible, totally…_

Then she had a flash of inspiration. She _could_ ring the bell without touching it. She grinned.

"Hey, wait, is she slowing down yet?" one of the observers of the race asked.

"No, I think… wait, she's speeding up?!"

Twilight and Scootaloo exchanged glances. They both knew what was coming next.

Rainbow felt her wings practically burning as the energy in her body began to focus and she squinted into the wind. She pushed herself more and more, speeding up, pushing beyond her limits as Ponyville below her became a blur and then…

_KABOOM!_

Rainbow shot right by the Clocktower just as she smashed through the sound barrier. The shockwave of the Sonic Rainboom spread outward and since it was so close to the tower, the force of it rang the bell loud enough to be heard right after the thunderous explosion of her hitting Mach 1.

Now with a brilliant streak of rainbow trailing her, Dash turned rapidly and soared at the finish line, focused on the cloud placed over the cheering onlookers. But the problem was that Turing was still ahead, even if that gap was closing. And now she had expended most of her energy…

_This is gonna be close!_ she thought, willing herself to fight the fatigue and the burning in her wings. The two were coming at the cloud crossways and it was anypony's guess who would reach it first.

Turing Test saw the cloud directly ahead too and had already detected that Rainbow Dash had exceeded sonic speed. She had her jets on at full power and was positioned for the least amount of wind resistance, but still she could go no faster. It was very clear at that point that, while Turing could go faster than Rainbow Dash _on average_ for longer, her maximum speed was still **sub**sonic. Rainbow's absolute maximum speed was **super**sonic. Rainbow was slowing down from fatigue, but only slightly. Not even Turing could calculate the winner of the race at that point. The two were practically on a collision course.

The crowd held its breath collectively as the two racers surged at them, the screaming sound of them cutting through the wind growing exponentially louder until they were both right there and the crowd stared up at the cloud and watched as…

...Rainbow Dash, by barely a meter, burst through the small cloud, busting it and winning the race.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	10. The Story Continues!

Hello everyone!

So, yes, this isn't a chapter, but a little notification to say that I won't be continuing this story here on FFN. The main reason is just that it really doesn't have much of an audience here, and also I just dislike the format of things here on this site.

The good news, in fact, the **best** news is that the story has actually been continuing for some time very regularly over on FiMFiction's site. Over there, it has **illustrations** for the majority of chapters, detailed **author's notes**, **bonuses **including deleted scenes, and lots of other things. It has a much better format over there, and the readership is much larger. So, if you like this story, go check it out over there for the continuation!

Once again it's over at fimfiction DOT net

Just search for "The Iron Horse," under Stories or look me up as "The Hat Man" under Users.

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you on the other site!

Sincerely,

_-Thinker_


End file.
